Garnett
A feminine name from French meaning "deep red gemstone".
Name Census estimates that about 1,987 living Americans carry the first name Garnett. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 58.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Garnett today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Garnett births was 1920 (186 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Garnett. 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
- • Garnett sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 172,498 Americans
Peak year
1920
186 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,251
Tracked since 1881
Gender
Gender distribution for Garnett
Garnett is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 6,636 total registrations, 3,852 (58.0%) were male and 2,784 (42.0%) were female.
Garnett as a male name
- Ranked #9,251 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1920 (87 births)
Garnett as a female name
- Ranked #13,886 in 1991
- 5 female births in 1991
- Peak: 1920 (99 births)
Popularity
Garnett: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Garnett 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 1,472 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
Garnett 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 Garnett during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Garnetts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia recorded the most babies named Garnett, while Oklahoma, Iowa, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 189 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Garnett
The given name Garnett is derived from the Old French word "grenat," meaning "pomegranate." This word traces its roots back to the Latin word "granatus," which also means "pomegranate." The name likely originated as a descriptive nickname referring to the deep red color of the pomegranate fruit.
The earliest recorded use of the name Garnett dates back to the late 12th century in England. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Garnett of Navestock, who was listed in the Feet of Fines for Essex in 1198.
In the 13th century, the name Garnett was mentioned in the Curia Regis Rolls of 1230, which were legal records from the royal court of England. This suggests that the name had gained some popularity during that time period.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Garnett was Henry Garnett (1555-1606), an English Jesuit priest who was executed for his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, a failed attempt to assassinate King James I of England.
Another significant bearer of the name was Thomas Garnett (1766-1802), an English physician and writer who is best known for his work on the theory of electricity and his contributions to the field of chemistry.
In the realm of literature, Constance Garnett (1861-1946) was a renowned English translator who introduced many of the great works of Russian literature, including those by Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, to English-speaking audiences.
The name Garnett also has connections to the world of sports. Garnett Silk (1966-1994) was a Jamaican reggae musician and vocalist who achieved international success before his untimely death at the age of 28.
Finally, Kevin Maurice Garnett (born 1976) is a former professional basketball player who played in the NBA for 21 seasons and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.
People
Garnett + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Garnett 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
Garnett: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Garnett?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,987 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Garnett 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 172,498 US residents.
Is Garnett a common name?
We classify Garnett as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,636 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Garnett most popular?
The single biggest year for Garnett was 1920, when 186 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Garnett is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Garnett a male name?
Yes, 58.0% of people registered as Garnett 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.
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.