Gidget
A diminutive name that may derive from the name Gertrude.
Name Census estimates that about 1,379 living Americans carry the first name Gidget. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gidget today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gidget births was 1966 (187 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gidget. 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
1.4K
~ 1 in 248,553 Americans
Peak year
1966
187 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2016 SSA rank
#14,967
Tracked since 1946
Popularity
Gidget: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gidget from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 705 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gidget 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 Gidget during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gidgets live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. California, Illinois, Texas recorded the most babies named Gidget, while Iowa, Missouri, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gidget
The name Gidget is a relatively modern invention, originating in the 20th century. It is a diminutive form of the name Gertrude, which is derived from the Germanic elements "ger" meaning "spear" and "thrud" meaning "strength." The name Gertrude was popular among medieval nobility and royalty, but the shortened form Gidget did not emerge until much later.
Gidget first appeared as the nickname of the fictional character Frances Elizabeth Lawrence in the 1957 novel "Gidget, the Little Girl with Big Ideas" by Frederick Kohner. The novel was inspired by Kohner's own daughter Kathy, who was an avid surfer in Malibu, California. The name Gidget became synonymous with the surf culture of Southern California in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Gidget was in the 1959 film adaptation of Kohner's novel, starring Sandra Dee as the title character. The film's popularity helped to popularize the name Gidget as a given name, particularly among young girls and teenagers who identified with the character's carefree, beachy lifestyle.
While Gidget was initially a fictional character, the name has since been adopted by real people. One of the earliest examples is Gidget Geine, an American actress and model born in 1948. Another notable bearer of the name is Gidget Portner, an American surfer and environmental activist born in 1946.
Throughout the 20th century, several other notable individuals have borne the name Gidget. These include Gidget Yeasting, an American softball player who competed in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, and Gidget Shelton, a former professional golfer from the United States.
While the name Gidget may have started as a fictional moniker, it has since taken on a life of its own, becoming a popular given name in its own right. Its association with the surf culture of Southern California and its playful, youthful connotations have contributed to its enduring appeal as a unique and memorable name choice.
People
Gidget + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gidget 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
Gidget: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gidget?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,379 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gidget 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 248,553 US residents.
Is Gidget a common name?
We classify Gidget as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,586 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gidget most popular?
The single biggest year for Gidget was 1966, when 187 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gidget is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Gidget a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gidget 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.