Garl
A masculine given name of uncertain origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 37 living Americans carry the first name Garl. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Garl today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Garl births was 1942 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Garl. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Garl is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Garls were born before 1957.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Garl. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
37
~ 1 in 9,263,631 Americans
Peak year
1942
11 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1964 SSA rank
#3,766
Tracked since 1912
Census
Garl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 187 people with the first name Garl, which placed it at #40,012 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#40,012
National first-name rank
People counted
187
187 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Garl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Garl is White at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.7%) and Black (11.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Garl described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Garl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.8% · 123
- Hispanic or Latino18.7% · 35
- Black or African American11.8% · 22
- Two or more races2.1% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 3
Popularity
Garl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Garl from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 60 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Garl by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Garl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Garls live
Origin
Meaning and history of Garl
The given name Garl has its origins in ancient Scandinavian languages, particularly Old Norse. It is believed to have derived from the Proto-Germanic word "garlaz," which meant "spear" or "lance." This name likely emerged during the Viking Age, between the 8th and 11th centuries AD, when Norse culture and influence were widespread across parts of Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Garl can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of historical tales and literature from medieval Iceland. In the Saga of Gisli the Outlaw, written in the 13th century, there is a character named Garl Auðunnarson, who played a significant role in the narrative.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Garl was relatively uncommon but not unheard of in Scandinavia. One notable figure was Garl Håkansson, a Swedish nobleman who lived in the 12th century and served as a royal adviser to King Knut Eriksson.
In the 16th century, a Danish military commander named Garl Andersen gained recognition for his role in the Northern Seven Years' War against Sweden. He was born in 1530 and died in 1604.
Another individual of note was Garl Viklund, a Swedish explorer and cartographer who lived in the late 17th century. He was part of an expedition to map the northern regions of Scandinavia and the Arctic, and his detailed charts and maps were highly influential in their time.
In the 19th century, a Norwegian artist named Garl Olsen achieved some renown for his landscape paintings depicting the rugged beauty of his homeland. He was born in 1815 and died in 1892.
While the name Garl has remained relatively rare throughout history, it has endured as a testament to the rich cultural heritage of the Norse and Scandinavian peoples. Its connection to the ancient concept of the spear or lance reflects the warrior traditions and values that were so central to these societies.
People
Garl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Garl as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Garl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Garl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 37 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Garl going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 9,263,631 US residents.
Is Garl a common name?
We classify Garl as "Very Rare". It ranks above 49.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 175 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Garl most popular?
The single biggest year for Garl was 1942, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Garl is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Garl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 187 people with the name Garl, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,012 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Garl in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Garl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Garl leans strongly male. 160 people counted with this name were male (86.5%), compared with 25 female bearers (13.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Garl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Garl is White at 65.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.7%) and Black (11.8%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Garl most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Garl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.8% (123 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Garl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Garl a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Garl in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Garl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Garl in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Garl can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Garl?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.