Gayland
A masculine name from an English surname meaning "a happy, joyous person".
Name Census estimates that about 632 living Americans carry the first name Gayland. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gayland today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gayland births was 1950 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gayland. 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
- • The typical person named Gayland is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Gaylands were born before 1968.
People living today
632
~ 1 in 542,333 Americans
Peak year
1950
47 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1995 SSA rank
#9,332
Tracked since 1917
Census
Gayland in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 658 people with the first name Gayland, which placed it at #16,959 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
#16,959
National first-name rank
People counted
658
658 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gayland
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gayland is White at 76.0%. The next largest groups are Black (17.0%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Gayland 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 Gayland at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.0% · 500
- Black or African American17.0% · 112
- Two or more races3.6% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 5
Popularity
Gayland: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gayland from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 296 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
Gayland 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 Gayland during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gaylands live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, Oklahoma, California recorded the most babies named Gayland, while Kansas, California, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 42 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gayland
The name Gayland is believed to have its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the 5th to 11th centuries. It is thought to be derived from the combination of the Old English words "gæl" meaning "cheerful" or "merry" and "land" meaning "land" or "territory." Thus, the name Gayland could be interpreted as referring to a cheerful or merry land or territory.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gayland can be traced back to the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and resources in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. In this record, there is mention of a manor called "Gailande" located in the county of Dorset, which is believed to be the origin of the name Gayland.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Gayland. One of the earliest recorded was Gayland de Saumur, a French nobleman and crusader who participated in the Third Crusade in the late 12th century. Another notable figure was Gayland of Kent, an English knight who fought alongside King Edward I during the Welsh Wars in the late 13th century.
In the 15th century, Gayland Bourchier was a prominent English nobleman and politician who served as Lord Chancellor of England under King Henry VI. During the 16th century, Gayland Brinsley was an English scholar and educator who founded one of the earliest schools for girls in England.
Moving forward to the 17th century, Gayland Fairfax was an English military commander who played a significant role in the English Civil War, serving as a general in the Parliamentarian forces. In the 18th century, Gayland Wharton was a renowned English writer and satirist, known for his biting wit and social commentary.
While the name Gayland may not be as common today as it once was, it has a rich historical legacy spanning various cultures and time periods, with many notable individuals bearing this unique and intriguing name.
People
Gayland + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gayland 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
Gayland: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gayland?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 632 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gayland 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 542,333 US residents.
Is Gayland a common name?
We classify Gayland as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,025 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gayland most popular?
The single biggest year for Gayland was 1950, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gayland is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gayland in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 658 people with the name Gayland, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,959 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 Gayland 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 Gayland?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gayland leans strongly male. 619 people counted with this name were male (93.5%), compared with 43 female bearers (6.5%). 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 Gayland?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gayland is White at 76.0%. The next largest groups are Black (17.0%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Gayland most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gayland in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.0% (500 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 Gayland in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gayland a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gayland 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 Gayland still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gayland 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 Gayland 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 Americans are named Gayland?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.