Gio
Of Italian origin, a diminutive form of the name Giovanni meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 1,397 living Americans carry the first name Gio. It is a predominantly male name (97.6% of registrations). The average person named Gio today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gio births was 2023 (187 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gio. 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 Gio with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Gio is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 7 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 245,350 Americans
Peak year
2023
187 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,161
Tracked since 2001
Census
Gio in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,264 people with the first name Gio, which placed it at #6,914 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
#6,914
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,264 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
55.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gio
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gio is Hispanic at 55.4%. The next largest groups are White (22.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.1%). 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 Gio 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 Gio at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino55.4% · 1,255
- White22.9% · 518
- Asian and Pacific Islander13.1% · 297
- Black or African American5.3% · 120
- Two or more races2.9% · 65
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Gio
Gio leans heavily male at 97.6% of total registrations, but 34 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Gio as a male name
- Ranked #1,161 in 2024
- 179 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (180 births)
Gio as a female name
- Ranked #12,573 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (15 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gio leans strongly male. 2,121 people counted with this name were male (93.7%), compared with 142 female bearers (6.3%).
Popularity
Gio: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gio from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 789 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gio 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 Gio during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gios live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Gio, while Washington, Virginia, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 46 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gio
Gio is a masculine given name with origins tracing back to the Italian language and culture. It is a shortened form of the Italian name Giovanni, which itself is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "Graced by God" or "God is gracious."
The name Gio gained popularity in Italy during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions such as Tuscany and Umbria. It was often used as a diminutive or nickname for Giovanni, which was a common name among Italian families at the time.
In terms of historical references, the name Gio can be found in various literary works, including poems and plays from the Renaissance era. One notable example is the character of Gio Battista in the play "La Mandragola" by the Italian playwright Niccolò Machiavelli, written in the early 16th century.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Gio date back to the 14th century, with records showing individuals bearing this name in various Italian cities and towns. Some notable historical figures with the name Gio include:
1. Gio Ponti (1891-1979), an influential Italian architect and designer known for his contributions to modern design and architecture.
2. Gio Evan (1916-2001), an Italian singer and actor who gained popularity in the mid-20th century for his interpretations of traditional Neapolitan songs.
3. Gio Pomodoro (1924-2002), an Italian sculptor and artist renowned for his large-scale public artworks and abstract metal sculptures.
4. Gio Rossi (1927-2018), an Italian film director and screenwriter who made significant contributions to the Italian cinema during the post-World War II era.
5. Gio Lupi (1929-2005), an Italian entrepreneur and businessman who co-founded the renowned Italian fashion brand GiovanneLupi.
While the name Gio has maintained a presence throughout Italian history, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among Italian-American communities and those with cultural ties to Italy.
People
Gio + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gio 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
Gio: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gio?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,397 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gio 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 245,350 US residents.
Is Gio a common name?
We classify Gio as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,407 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gio most popular?
The single biggest year for Gio was 2023, when 187 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gio is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gio in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,264 people with the name Gio, or 0.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,914 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 Gio 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 Gio?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gio leans strongly male. 2,121 people counted with this name were male (93.7%), compared with 142 female bearers (6.3%). 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 Gio?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gio is Hispanic at 55.4%. The next largest groups are White (22.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.1%). 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 Gio most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Gio in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.4% (1,255 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 Gio in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gio a male name?
Yes, 97.6% of people registered as Gio 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 Gio still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gio 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 Gio 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 Gio?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Gio at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.