Garnet
Deep red gemstone symbolizing strength and protection.
Name Census estimates that about 2,095 living Americans carry the first name Garnet. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Garnet today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Garnet births was 1920 (305 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Garnet. 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.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 163,606 Americans
Peak year
1920
305 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,184
Tracked since 1882
Census
Garnet in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,760 people with the first name Garnet, which placed it at #5,961 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
#5,961
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,760 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Garnet
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Garnet is White at 78.0%. The next largest groups are Black (14.2%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Garnet 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 Garnet at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.0% · 2,154
- Black or African American14.2% · 391
- Two or more races3.4% · 94
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 26
Gender
Gender distribution for Garnet
Garnet is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 8,909 total registrations, 2,004 (22.5%) were male and 6,905 (77.5%) were female.
Garnet as a male name
- Ranked #9,184 in 2023
- 8 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1919 (55 births)
Garnet as a female name
- Ranked #16,044 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (258 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Garnet on both sides of the split. Of the 2,762 people counted with this name, 904 were male (32.7%) and 1,858 were female (67.3%).
Popularity
Garnet: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Garnet from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,104 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
Garnet 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 Garnet during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Garnets live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Garnet, while Wyoming, North Carolina, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 232 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Garnet
The name Garnet is derived from the gemstone of the same name. The word garnet comes from the Middle English word "gernet," which in turn comes from the Old French "grenat," meaning dark red. This ultimately traces back to the Latin word "granatus," meaning as red as a pomegranate seed.
Garnets are a group of silicate minerals that come in various red shades. The deep red color of these gems has long been admired and associated with fire and passion. Historically, garnets were used in jewelry and also believed to have protective and healing properties.
The name Garnet likely first came into use as a given name in medieval Europe, where gemstones and their symbolic meanings held significant cultural and religious significance. Early recorded instances of the name Garnet can be found in English records from the 16th century.
One of the earliest known notable individuals with the name Garnet was Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley (1833-1913), a British Army officer and administrator who served in various military campaigns throughout the British Empire.
Another historical figure with the name Garnet was Garnet Joseph Wolseley (1833-1913), an English Anglican priest and author, who served as the second Anglican Bishop of Nassau from 1881 to 1901.
In the United States, one of the earliest prominent individuals with the name Garnet was Garnet Douglass Baltimore (1904-1980), an American educator and civil rights activist who advocated for equal educational opportunities for African American students.
Garnet Reid (1914-1995) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, winning the Stanley Cup in 1944.
Garnet Portrie (1896-1980) was a Canadian politician who served as a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1949 to 1957, representing the riding of Vegreville, Alberta.
Over time, the name Garnet has been used for individuals of various genders, though it has traditionally been more common as a masculine name. Its association with the vibrant red gemstone has contributed to its enduring popularity as a given name.
People
Garnet + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Garnet 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
Garnet: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Garnet?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,095 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Garnet 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 163,606 US residents.
Is Garnet a common name?
We classify Garnet as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,909 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Garnet most popular?
The single biggest year for Garnet was 1920, when 305 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Garnet is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Garnet in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,760 people with the name Garnet, or 0.91 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,961 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 Garnet 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 Garnet?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Garnet on both sides of the split. Of the 2,762 people counted with this name, 904 were male (32.7%) and 1,858 were female (67.3%). 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 Garnet?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Garnet is White at 78.0%. The next largest groups are Black (14.2%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Garnet most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Garnet in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.0% (2,154 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 Garnet in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Garnet a female name?
Yes, 77.5% of people registered as Garnet in the SSA data are female. 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 Garnet still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Garnet 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 Garnet 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 have Garnet as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Garnet, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.