Garreth
Of Old Welsh origin, meaning "strong, resolute".
Name Census estimates that about 410 living Americans carry the first name Garreth. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Garreth today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Garreth births was 1990 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Garreth. 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
410
~ 1 in 835,986 Americans
Peak year
1990
19 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2017 SSA rank
#12,902
Tracked since 1940
Popularity
Garreth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Garreth from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 130 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Garreth 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 Garreth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Garreths live
Origin
Meaning and history of Garreth
The name Garreth is an English variant of the Welsh name Gareth, which derives from the Germanic words "gar" meaning "spear" and "rid" meaning "rider" or "warrior." It is believed to have originated in the Middle Ages, around the 12th century, when Welsh names were anglicized to be more easily understood by the English.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Garreth can be found in the medieval Welsh romance Gereint Son of Erbin, which is a part of the Mabinogion collection of Welsh mythology. In this tale, Gereint is a valiant knight who embarks on a quest to rescue a maiden from an evil knight.
In the 14th century, the name Garreth was used by Geoffrey Chaucer in his literary work "The Canterbury Tales." Chaucer's character, Sir Gareth, is the youngest son of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, and is known for his bravery and skill as a knight.
The first recorded use of the spelling "Garreth" is believed to be in the 16th century, during the Tudor period in England. One notable figure from this time was Garreth ap Siôn, a Welsh poet and scholar who lived from around 1530 to 1590.
In the 17th century, the name Garreth was associated with Sir Garreth Reede, a British naval officer and explorer who served under Sir Walter Raleigh. He was born around 1580 and played a significant role in the colonization of Virginia.
Another notable bearer of the name Garreth was Garreth Vaughan, a Welsh poet and playwright who lived from 1612 to 1676. He is best known for his work "The Golden Grove," which is considered one of the most influential collections of Welsh poetry from the 17th century.
In more recent history, the name Garreth has been less common, but still used occasionally. One notable figure was Garreth C. Cravens, an American author and journalist who was born in 1963 and has written several books on science and technology.
People
Garreth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Garreth 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
Garreth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Garreth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 410 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Garreth 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 835,986 US residents.
Is Garreth a common name?
We classify Garreth as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 430 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Garreth most popular?
The single biggest year for Garreth was 1990, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Garreth is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Garreth a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Garreth 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.