Gil
A Gallic and Welsh version of the French name Guillaume.
Name Census estimates that about 4,068 living Americans carry the first name Gil. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gil today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gil births was 1957 (124 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gil. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Gil with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 84,256 Americans
Peak year
1957
124 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,000
Tracked since 1914
Census
Gil in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,599 people with the first name Gil, which placed it at #2,726 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
#2,726
National first-name rank
People counted
8.6K
8,599 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
39.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gil
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gil is Hispanic at 39.7%. The next largest groups are White (37.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (16.7%). 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 Gil 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 Gil at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino39.7% · 3,416
- White37.5% · 3,227
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.7% · 1,439
- Black or African American4.3% · 366
- Two or more races1.4% · 123
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 28
Popularity
Gil: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gil from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 915 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
Gil 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 Gil during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gils live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Gil, while Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 153 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gil
The name Gil has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, with roots tracing back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "gil," which means "joy" or "rejoicing." The name's earliest known appearance is in the Bible's Old Testament, where it was mentioned as a place name.
In the Middle Ages, the name Gil gained popularity among Jewish communities across Europe. It was often given to baby boys as a symbol of the joy and happiness they brought to their families. The name's usage eventually spread beyond Jewish circles and became more widespread.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Gil was Gil de Rais, a 15th-century French nobleman and military leader who fought alongside Joan of Arc during the Hundred Years' War. Born in 1404, he played a crucial role in several battles but later gained notoriety for his alleged involvement in occult practices and criminal activities.
Another notable figure was Gil Eannes, a 14th-century Portuguese explorer and navigator. Born around 1300, he is credited with being the first European to sail south beyond Cape Bojador off the western coast of Africa, paving the way for further exploration and the Age of Discovery.
In the realm of literature, Gil Blas, the protagonist of Alain-René Lesage's picaresque novel "The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane," published in the early 18th century, remains a well-known character. The novel follows the adventures and misadventures of the titular character, Gil Blas, as he navigates through various social classes and occupations in Spanish society.
In the world of sports, Gil Hodges, an American baseball player and manager, left a lasting legacy. Born in 1924, he played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, helping the team win seven National League pennants and two World Series championships. After his playing career, he managed the New York Mets and guided them to their improbable 1969 World Series victory.
Lastly, Gil Scott-Heron, an African American poet, musician, and author, was a prominent figure in the 1970s and '80s. Born in 1949, he is often referred to as the "Godfather of Rap" for his influential spoken-word performances that combined poetry, commentary, and social criticism with a musical backdrop, paving the way for the hip-hop genre.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Gil
People
Gil + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gil 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
Gil: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gil?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,068 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gil 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 84,256 US residents.
Is Gil a common name?
We classify Gil as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,951 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gil most popular?
The single biggest year for Gil was 1957, when 124 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gil is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gil in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,599 people with the name Gil, or 2.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,726 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 Gil 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 Gil?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gil leans strongly male. 8,278 people counted with this name were male (96.3%), compared with 322 female bearers (3.7%). 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 Gil?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gil is Hispanic at 39.7%. The next largest groups are White (37.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (16.7%). 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 Gil most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Gil in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.7% (3,416 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 Gil in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gil a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gil 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 Gil still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gil 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 Gil 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 called Gil?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.