Gust
A male given name meaning "one who enjoys or appreciates."
Name Census estimates that about 351 living Americans carry the first name Gust. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gust today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gust births was 1923 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gust. 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
- • The typical person named Gust is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Gusts were born before 1962.
People living today
351
~ 1 in 976,508 Americans
Peak year
1923
59 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1984 SSA rank
#5,848
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Gust: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gust from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 446 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gust 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 Gust during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gusts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Illinois, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the most babies named Gust, while West Virginia, North Dakota, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gust
The name Gust is derived from the Old Norse word 'gustr', which means 'blast of wind' or 'gust of wind'. It is a name with its origins in Scandinavia, particularly in the Viking era from the 8th to the 11th century. The name was likely used to describe a person who was strong, forceful, or temperamental like a gust of wind.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gust can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which are prose narratives written in the 13th and 14th centuries. These sagas often featured characters with names that reflected their personalities or physical attributes, and Gust was likely used in a similar manner.
In the Middle Ages, the name Gust gained some popularity in parts of Europe that had been influenced by Norse culture. For example, there are records of individuals named Gust in Germany and the Netherlands during this time period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Gust. One such person was Gust Avitskog (1890-1967), a Swedish-American artist known for his landscape paintings and portraiture. Another was Gust Håkansson (1905-1980), a Swedish footballer who played as a striker and represented Sweden in the 1934 FIFA World Cup.
In the literary world, Gust Frohman (1856-1930) was a German-American impresario and theatrical producer who helped bring many European plays and actors to the United States in the early 20th century.
Moving to the field of music, Gust Gillholm (1879-1933) was a Swedish composer and conductor who wrote several operas and orchestral works, while Gust Renker (1900-1957) was an American musician and bandleader known for his contributions to the Chicago-style jazz scene.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Gust, which has its roots in Old Norse language and Viking culture, and was likely used to describe someone with a forceful or tempestuous personality.
People
Gust + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gust 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
Gust: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gust?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 351 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gust 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 976,508 US residents.
Is Gust a common name?
We classify Gust as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,871 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gust most popular?
The single biggest year for Gust was 1923, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gust is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Gust a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gust 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.
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.