Guage
An English name derived from the Old French word "gauge" meaning "measure".
Name Census estimates that about 102 living Americans carry the first name Guage. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Guage today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Guage births was 2005 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Guage. 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
102
~ 1 in 3,360,337 Americans
Peak year
2005
14 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2014 SSA rank
#12,716
Tracked since 1992
Census
Guage in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 148 people with the first name Guage, which placed it at #45,698 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
#45,698
National first-name rank
People counted
148
148 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Guage
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Guage is White at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.4%) and Two or More Races (2.0%). 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 Guage 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 Guage at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.2% · 132
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 11
- Two or more races2.0% · 3
- Black or African American0.7% · 1
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 1
Popularity
Guage: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Guage from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 71 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Guage 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 Guage during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Guage
The given name Guage is relatively uncommon and its origins are somewhat obscure. It is believed to have derived from an old English word "guge" which meant "to measure or gauge". This word itself has its roots in the Old French word "gaugier" which meant "to estimate or appraise".
While there are no definitive records of this name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is thought to have been in use as early as the 13th century in certain regions of England. The earliest known recording of the name dates back to 1273 when a Guage de Moncheaux was mentioned in a legal document from Lincolnshire.
One of the earliest notable figures to bear this name was Sir Guage de Beauchamp, a knight from Warwickshire who fought in the Hundred Years' War during the 14th century. He was present at the Battle of Crecy in 1346 and was later knighted by King Edward III for his valiant service.
In the 16th century, there was a Guage Pynchon who was a wealthy merchant and landowner in Essex. He was a prominent figure in the local community and served as a magistrate.
During the English Civil War in the 17th century, a Colonel Guage Wyndham fought for the Royalist forces under King Charles I. He was captured at the Battle of Bridgewater in 1645 and subsequently imprisoned.
A more recent historical figure was Guage Elliot, a British explorer and naturalist who travelled extensively in Africa during the late 19th century. He is credited with making important discoveries in the field of zoology and published several books detailing his expeditions.
While not an exhaustive list, these examples showcase the presence of the name Guage across various periods in British history, albeit in a limited capacity. Its unique spelling and pronunciation have likely contributed to its relative rarity over time.
People
Guage + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Guage 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
Guage: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Guage?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 102 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Guage 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 3,360,337 US residents.
Is Guage a common name?
We classify Guage as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 103 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Guage most popular?
The single biggest year for Guage was 2005, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Guage is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Guage in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 148 people with the name Guage, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,698 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 Guage 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 Guage?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Guage appears almost entirely male. Of the 153 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Guage?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Guage is White at 89.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.4%) and Two or More Races (2.0%). 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 Guage most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Guage in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.2% (132 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 Guage in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Guage a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Guage 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 Guage still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Guage 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 Guage 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 Guage?
See how many people share the name Guage on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.