How rare is the name Gaye?

4,601 people in the United States have the first name Gaye, about 1 in 65,645. It ranks #4,171 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

GAYE

#4,171

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
4,601
About
1 in 65,645
This common or more
83.7%
Who bears it

Of the 4,601 people named Gaye, 87.4% reported their origin as White, 7.7% as Black and 2.2% as two or more races. 98.9% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Gaye peaked in 1960, when 268 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19091976
Peak year
1960
Births that year
268
In 1976
8 ▼97%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 5,746 babies have been given the name since 1909. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero.

Gaye by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1950s, when it ranked #1,151. The largest share of babies named Gaye, 65%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1900s#4,9315
1910s#5,01969
1920s#5,144106
1930s#1,651599
1940s#1,1901,333
1950s#1,1512,043
1960s#1,4721,449
1970s#6,653142
Greatest Generation 1901–272.5%
Silent Generation 1928–4522.4%
Baby boom 1946–6465%
Generation X 1965–8010%

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 Gaye is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Gaye has been most common in Oklahoma (2.3×), Texas (2.1×), and Michigan (2×), and least common in Georgia (0.5×).

3,240 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.

Exactly as common as Gaye

1 other first name also has 4,601 people.

#4,171 Radhika · 4,601

Either side of Gaye

#4,168 Sydnie · 4,606#4,170 Jerimiah · 4,603#4,171 Radhika · 4,601#4,173 Tomasz · 4,598

Spelled almost the same

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

#2,229 Gay · 11,736#21,789 Gae · 463#34,840 Gaya · 233

Also a last name

As a last name, Gaye ranks #14,510 of 156,621, with 1,977 people. See Gaye as a last name

Compare