Gayla
A feminine name of English origin meaning "festive, joyous".
Name Census estimates that about 7,928 living Americans carry the first name Gayla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gayla today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gayla births was 1954 (617 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gayla. 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
7.9K
~ 1 in 43,233 Americans
Peak year
1954
617 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1961 SSA rank
#3,787
Tracked since 1921
Gender
Gender distribution for Gayla
Out of the 10,844 babies given the name Gayla since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Gayla as a male name
- Ranked #3,787 in 1961
- 6 male births in 1961
- Peak: 1961 (6 births)
Gayla as a female name
- Ranked #15,242 in 2014
- 6 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1954 (617 births)
Popularity
Gayla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gayla from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 3,917 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gayla 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 Gayla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gaylas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. Texas, Oklahoma, Illinois recorded the most babies named Gayla, while Massachusetts, South Carolina, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 216 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gayla
The name Gayla is a variant of the feminine name Gail, which has its origins in the French language. The French name Gail is derived from the Germanic name Gaillard, which means "high-spirited" or "lively."
The name Gayla gained popularity in the United States during the 20th century, particularly in the mid-20th century. It is believed that the spelling Gayla emerged as an Americanized version of the French name Gail.
While there are no known historical references to the name Gayla in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the name has been borne by several notable individuals throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Gayla is Gayla Peevey (1943-2021), an American singer and songwriter who was a member of the 1960s pop group The Osmond Brothers. Peevey co-wrote several hit songs for the group, including "One Bad Apple."
Another notable figure named Gayla was Gayla Raphel (born 1952), an American former professional tennis player. Raphel achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 12 in singles and won three singles titles on the WTA Tour.
In the field of literature, Gayla Drummond (1938-2020) was an American author and poet. She published several collections of poetry, including "The Body Remembers" and "The Flesh of My Salt."
Gayla J. Bassior (born 1949) is an American businesswoman and former chairwoman of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company. She served as Disney's chairwoman from 2004 to 2007.
Gayla Nicholson (born 1962) is an American former professional basketball player. She played in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) and was a member of the United States women's national basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
People
Gayla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gayla 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
Gayla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gayla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,928 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gayla 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 43,233 US residents.
Is Gayla a common name?
We classify Gayla as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,844 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gayla most popular?
The single biggest year for Gayla was 1954, when 617 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gayla is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Gayla a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Gayla 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.
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.