Gospel
A word of Germanic origin meaning "good news" or "glad tidings".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Gospel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gospel today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gospel births was 2013 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gospel. 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 Gospel with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Gospel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2013
5 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2013 SSA rank
#12,784
Tracked since 2013
Popularity
Gospel: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Gospel 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 Gospel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Gospel
The name Gospel has its origins in the Greek language, specifically derived from the word "euangelion," which means "good news" or "gospel." This name is closely tied to the religious context of Christianity, as it refers to the written accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, known as the four Gospels of the New Testament.
The Gospels, comprising the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, were written in the first century AD and are considered to be the foundational texts of Christianity. These accounts narrate the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, serving as the primary source of information about his teachings and the establishment of the early Christian church.
One of the earliest historical references to the name Gospel can be found in the writings of the early Christian scholar, Irenaeus of Lyon (c. 130-202 AD), who referred to the four Gospels as the "quadriform Gospel." This term highlights the significance of the four canonical Gospels in the early Christian tradition.
Throughout history, the name Gospel has been used primarily in a religious context, often referring to the spreading or preaching of the Christian faith. Some notable individuals who were associated with the dissemination of the Gospel include:
1. Saint Paul (c. 5-67 AD), one of the most influential early Christian missionaries and author of numerous epistles in the New Testament.
2. Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 AD), a renowned philosopher and theologian who played a significant role in the development of Christian doctrine.
3. Martin Luther (1483-1546), a German monk and theologian who initiated the Protestant Reformation and translated the Bible into German.
4. John Wycliffe (c. 1330-1384), an English scholar and theologian who advocated for the translation of the Bible into vernacular English.
5. William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536), an English scholar and reformer who was instrumental in translating the Bible into Early Modern English.
While the name Gospel is primarily associated with Christianity, it has also been used in other contexts to represent the spread of beliefs, teachings, or ideologies. However, its roots remain firmly grounded in the religious tradition of the New Testament and the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.
People
Gospel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gospel 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
Gospel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gospel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gospel 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Gospel a common name?
We classify Gospel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gospel most popular?
The single biggest year for Gospel was 2013, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gospel is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Gospel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gospel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gospel 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 Gospel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gospel 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 Gospel 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Gospel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.