Garlan
An Anglo-Norman French form of the name Gerald, meaning "spear ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 157 living Americans carry the first name Garlan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Garlan today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Garlan births was 1930 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Garlan. 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 Garlan is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Garlans were born before 1964.
People living today
157
~ 1 in 2,183,149 Americans
Peak year
1930
15 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
1972 SSA rank
#4,624
Tracked since 1914
Census
Garlan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 243 people with the first name Garlan, which placed it at #33,857 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
#33,857
National first-name rank
People counted
243
243 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Garlan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Garlan is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Black (11.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%). 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 Garlan 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 Garlan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.5% · 198
- Black or African American11.5% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 6
- Two or more races2.5% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 1
Popularity
Garlan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Garlan from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 98 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
Garlan 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 Garlan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Garlan
The name Garlan has its roots in the Old English language, originating from the region of modern-day England during the Anglo-Saxon period. It is believed to have derived from the Old English words "gār" meaning "spear" and "land" meaning "land" or "estate." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived on or owned land associated with spear-making or military activities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Garlan can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of a great survey commissioned in 1086 by William the Conqueror. This document contains references to individuals bearing the name, indicating its usage in medieval England.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who carried the name Garlan. One of the most prominent was Garlan de Brionne, a Norman nobleman who lived during the 11th century. He was a trusted advisor to William the Conqueror and played a significant role in the Norman conquest of England.
Another historical figure with this name was Garlan de Lacy, a 12th-century Anglo-Norman baron and military commander. He served under King Henry II of England and was involved in campaigns in Ireland, where he was granted lands and established the de Lacy dynasty.
In the realm of literature, Garlan de Caux was a 12th-century French poet and trouvère, known for his contributions to the courtly love tradition of medieval poetry. His works were widely circulated and influenced the development of lyric poetry in medieval France.
Moving into the 13th century, Garlan de Joinville was a French chronicler and biographer of King Louis IX of France. His work, "Histoire de Saint Louis," provided a valuable firsthand account of the life and reign of the pious monarch.
Lastly, Garlan de Palermo was an Italian architect and engineer who lived in the 12th century. He is credited with the design and construction of several notable buildings in Palermo, including the Palazzo dei Normanni and the Cappella Palatina, which showcased the blending of Norman and Arabic architectural styles.
While the name Garlan has its origins in Old English and was more prevalent in medieval times, it has maintained a presence throughout history, carried by individuals from various backgrounds and professions, leaving their mark on the cultural and historical tapestry of their respective eras.
People
Garlan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Garlan 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
Garlan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Garlan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 157 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Garlan 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 2,183,149 US residents.
Is Garlan a common name?
We classify Garlan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 416 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Garlan most popular?
The single biggest year for Garlan was 1930, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Garlan is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Garlan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 243 people with the name Garlan, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,857 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 Garlan 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 Garlan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Garlan leans strongly male. 216 people counted with this name were male (88.2%), compared with 29 female bearers (11.8%). 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 Garlan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Garlan is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Black (11.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%). 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 Garlan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Garlan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.5% (198 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 Garlan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Garlan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Garlan 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 Garlan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Garlan 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 Garlan 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 many people share the name Garlan?
Find out how many Americans are named Garlan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.