Gary Cole
There are approximately 433 people named Gary Cole living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 791,580 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Gary with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Cole. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
433
1 in 791,580
Named Gary
653K
Alive today
Named Cole
227K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 653K
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1952
Average age: 66
Estimated bearers: 227K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #126
Per 100K: 66.20
Top ancestry: White (75.3%)
First name trend
Gary: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Gary. The peak year was 1952 with 38,838 births. The average person named Gary today is 66 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Cole surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Cole, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 75.3%.
- White75.3%
- Black or African American18.9%
- Hispanic or Latino2.4%
- Two or more races2.1%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Gary has a living-bearer frequency of 0.1906% of the US population, based on 653,395 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Cole appears at a rate of 66.20 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0662%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 433 people with the full name Gary Cole. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Gary
Related
Other people with the surname Cole
FAQ
Gary Cole: questions and answers
How many people are named Gary Cole?
We estimate approximately 433 people in the United States share the full name Gary Cole. That works out to about 1 in 791,580 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.1906%) with the surname frequency (66.20 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Gary Cole?
We classify Gary Cole as "Very Rare". About 1 in 791,580 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Gary a male or female name?
Gary is predominantly male. Out of 905,223 total SSA registrations, 99.6% were male and 0.4% were female. See the full Gary profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.