How rare is the name Gay?

11,736 people in the United States have the first name Gay, about 1 in 25,735. It ranks #2,229 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

GAY

#2,229

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
11,736
About
1 in 25,735
This common or more
79%
Who bears it

Of the 11,736 people named Gay, 84.3% reported their origin as White, 6.2% as Black and 6% as Asian or Pacific Islander. 94.9% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Gay peaked in 1959, when 692 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18831982
Peak year
1959
Births that year
692
In 1982
6 ▼99%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 19,367 babies have been given the name since 1883. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero.

Gay by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1940s, when it ranked #627. The largest share of babies named Gay, 53.7%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#1,60260
1890s#1,056206
1900s#1,312199
1910s#1,367647
1920s#1,3371,003
1930s#6972,887
1940s#6274,605
1950s#6575,860
1960s#9313,482
1970s#3,345412
1980s#27,9986
Before 19011.5%
Greatest Generation 1901–278.1%
Silent Generation 1928–4529.2%
Baby boom 1946–6453.7%
Generation X 1965–807.5%
Millennials 1981–960%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Gay is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Gay has been most common in Utah (2.3×), West Virginia (2.1×), and Louisiana (2.1×), and least common in Arizona (0.22×).

14,838 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Gay

#2,227 Elba · 11,747#2,228 Rosetta · 11,741#2,230 Dani · 11,724#2,231 Cori · 11,717

Spelled almost the same

6 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Gay, most common first.

#4,171 Gaye · 4,601#12,788 Gai · 962#17,018 Gao · 655#21,789 Gae · 463#27,069 Ga · 340#34,840 Gaya · 233

Also a last name

As a last name, Gay ranks #1,153 of 156,621, with 29,878 people. See Gay as a last name

Compare