Gia
A feminine name of Italian origin meaning "God's gracious gift."
Name Census estimates that about 21,125 living Americans carry the first name Gia. It sits at #267 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gia today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gia births was 2024 (1,191 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gia. 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
- • Gia is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
21K
~ 1 in 16,225 Americans
Peak year
2024
1,191 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
1978 SSA rank
#267
Tracked since 1957
Gender
Gender distribution for Gia
Out of the 21,622 babies given the name Gia since 1880, 100.0% 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.
Gia as a male name
- Ranked #6,137 in 1978
- 5 male births in 1978
- Peak: 1978 (5 births)
Gia as a female name
- Ranked #267 in 2024
- 1,191 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (1,191 births)
Popularity
Gia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gia from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 8,726 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Gia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gia 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 Gia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Gia, while West Virginia, South Dakota, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 423 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gia
The name Gia is a diminutive form of the Italian name Gianna, which is derived from the Italian form of the feminine name Giovanna. Giovanna is the Italian equivalent of the Latin name Johanna, which comes from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "God is gracious." The name Gia gained popularity in the late 20th century, particularly after the rise to fame of the Italian-American fashion designer Gia Carangi in the 1970s and 1980s.
Historically, the name Gia has its roots in various cultures and languages. In Greek mythology, Gaia was the personification of Earth and the primal mother goddess. In Sanskrit, the word "jia" means "life" or "liveliness," which could be a possible connection to the name Gia. Additionally, in Armenian, the name Gia is a diminutive form of the name Gayane, which is derived from the Armenian word "gayi" meaning "precious stone."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gia can be found in the 14th century with Gia Tramezzo, an Italian painter and miniaturist active in Naples between 1350 and 1370. Another notable figure was Gia Vannetti, an Italian philosopher and writer who lived from 1737 to 1808.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Gia. Gia Carangi (1960-1986) was an American fashion model and actress who rose to fame in the late 1970s and early 1980s, becoming one of the first supermodels. Gia Scala (1934-1972) was an Italian-American actress and model who appeared in numerous Italian films and television shows. Gia Coppola (born 1987) is an American filmmaker and actress, best known for directing the films "Palo Alto" and "Mainstream."
Other notable figures include Gia Allemand (1983-2013), an American actress, model, and reality television contestant; and Gia Sandhu (born 1990), a Canadian actress and model of Indian descent.
People
Gia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gia 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
Gia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21,125 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gia 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 16,225 US residents.
Is Gia a common name?
We classify Gia as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21,622 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gia most popular?
The single biggest year for Gia was 2024, when 1,191 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gia is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Gia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gia 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.