Gunnison
A masculine name of English origin relating to a town in Colorado.
Name Census estimates that about 98 living Americans carry the first name Gunnison. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gunnison today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gunnison births was 2015 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gunnison. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Gunnison. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
98
~ 1 in 3,497,493 Americans
Peak year
2015
12 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2021 SSA rank
#8,395
Tracked since 1999
Popularity
Gunnison: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gunnison from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 61 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gunnison 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 Gunnison 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 Gunnison
The given name Gunnison is believed to have originated in England during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English words "gunna" meaning "battle" and "sunu" meaning "son," thus translating to "son of battle" or "warrior son." This name likely emerged as a descriptive moniker for the sons of renowned warriors or soldiers.
In the 11th century, the name appeared in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landholders and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This suggests that the name was in use among the Anglo-Saxon population prior to the Norman Conquest.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Gunnison was Sir Richard Gunnison, a knight who fought in the Crusades during the late 12th century. He was mentioned in several contemporary chronicles for his bravery and skill in battle.
During the 13th century, a prominent figure named Gunnison de Montfort was a close ally of Simon de Montfort, the leader of the baronial rebellion against King Henry III. De Montfort's exploits were documented in various medieval manuscripts and chronicles.
In the 16th century, John Gunnison (c. 1500-1556) was an English scholar and translator who is best known for his Latin translations of several Greek philosophical texts. His work helped to preserve and disseminate ancient Greek thought during the Renaissance era.
Another notable individual with the name was Captain John Gunnison (1812-1853), an American army officer and explorer who led an expedition to survey a potential transcontinental railroad route through the Rocky Mountains. Unfortunately, he and several members of his party were killed by a band of Paiute warriors in Utah in 1853. The Gunnison River and the town of Gunnison, Colorado, were named in his honor.
In more recent times, Gunnison Butterfield (1899-1986) was an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Butterfield & Butterfield auction house in San Francisco. He played a significant role in establishing the city as a major center for art and antique auctions in the western United States.
People
Gunnison + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gunnison 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
Gunnison: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gunnison?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 98 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gunnison 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 3,497,493 US residents.
Is Gunnison a common name?
We classify Gunnison as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 99 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gunnison most popular?
The single biggest year for Gunnison was 2015, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gunnison 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 Gunnison in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gunnison a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gunnison 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 Gunnison still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gunnison 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 Gunnison 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 Americans are named Gunnison?
Find out how many people have the name Gunnison on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.