Gatlin
A masculine name possibly derived from the English surname meaning "little road".
Name Census estimates that about 4,249 living Americans carry the first name Gatlin. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Gatlin today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gatlin births was 2022 (367 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gatlin. 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
- • Gatlin is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.2K
~ 1 in 80,667 Americans
Peak year
2022
367 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#888
Tracked since 1981
Census
Gatlin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,449 people with the first name Gatlin, which placed it at #6,528 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
#6,528
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,449 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gatlin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gatlin is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Gatlin 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 Gatlin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.4% · 2,214
- Two or more races4.3% · 105
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 79
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 34
- Black or African American0.7% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.0% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Gatlin
Out of the 4,291 babies given the name Gatlin since 1880, 99.1% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Gatlin as a male name
- Ranked #888 in 2024
- 266 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (358 births)
Gatlin as a female name
- Ranked #16,045 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (15 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gatlin leans strongly male. 2,401 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 49 female bearers (2.0%).
Popularity
Gatlin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gatlin from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,674 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gatlin 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 Gatlin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gatlins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. Texas, Florida, Ohio recorded the most babies named Gatlin, while Utah, Nebraska, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 96 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gatlin
The given name Gatlin is believed to have originated from the Old English word "gat," which means "goat." This suggests that the name may have been initially used as a surname for someone who worked with or kept goats. The earliest recorded use of the name Gatlin dates back to the 16th century in England.
In the late 16th century, a man named John Gatlin was recorded as residing in the village of Walsall, Staffordshire, England. He was a farmer and is believed to be one of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Gatlin.
During the 17th century, the name Gatlin started to gain popularity in the American colonies. One of the notable individuals with this name was Richard Gatlin, born in 1635 in Virginia. He was a prominent tobacco farmer and landowner in the colony.
In the 18th century, a man named Gatlin Rucker served as a soldier in the American Revolutionary War. He fought in several battles against the British forces and is known for his bravery and service to the cause of American independence.
Another historical figure with the name Gatlin was James Gatlin, born in 1790 in North Carolina. He was a successful businessman and plantation owner who played a significant role in the development of the cotton industry in the southern United States.
In the 19th century, one of the most famous individuals with the name Gatlin was Richard Jordan Gatlin, born in 1809 in Tennessee. He was a renowned educator and author who wrote several books on teaching methods and educational philosophy. Gatlin's work had a significant impact on the development of educational practices in the United States.
Throughout history, the name Gatlin has been associated with individuals from various walks of life, including farmers, soldiers, businessmen, and educators. While its origins can be traced back to Old English, the name has maintained its presence and significance over the centuries, particularly in the United States.
People
Gatlin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gatlin 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
Gatlin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gatlin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,249 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gatlin 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 80,667 US residents.
Is Gatlin a common name?
We classify Gatlin as "Rare". It ranks above 96.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,291 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gatlin most popular?
The single biggest year for Gatlin was 2022, when 367 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gatlin is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gatlin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,449 people with the name Gatlin, or 0.81 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,528 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 Gatlin 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 Gatlin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gatlin leans strongly male. 2,401 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 49 female bearers (2.0%). 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 Gatlin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gatlin is White at 90.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and Hispanic (3.2%). 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 Gatlin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gatlin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (2,214 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 Gatlin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gatlin a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Gatlin 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 Gatlin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gatlin 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 Gatlin 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 are named Gatlin?
Want to know how many Americans are named Gatlin? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.