How rare is the name Gordon?

78,487 people in the United States have the first name Gordon, about 1 in 3,848. It ranks #674 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

GORDON

#674

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
78,487
About
1 in 3,848
This common or more
63.8%
Who bears it

Of the 78,487 people named Gordon, 85.7% reported their origin as White, 5.5% as Black and 3.9% as Asian or Pacific Islander. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Gordon peaked in 1952, when 2,835 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1952
Births that year
2,835
In 2025*
209 ▼93%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 155,579 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Gordon by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #174. The largest share of babies named Gordon, 29.4%, were born during the baby boom (1946–1964).

1880s#502499
1890s#446944
1900s#3841,642
1910s#21413,733
1920s#18625,829
1930s#17425,597
1940s#22724,525
1950s#27425,795
1960s#38915,896
1970s#6446,619
1980s#8015,048
1990s#1,1783,532
2000s#1,8572,304
2010s#2,0082,283
2020s#2,0811,333
Before 19011%
Greatest Generation 1901–2723.1%
Silent Generation 1928–4529%
Baby boom 1946–6429.4%
Generation X 1965–808.5%
Millennials 1981–964.6%
Generation Z 1997–122.4%
2013 and later2%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Gordon is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Gordon has been most common in North Dakota (4.2×), Vermont (3.9×), and South Dakota (2.8×), and least common in Mississippi (0.39×).

148,594 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 Gordon

#672 Damian · 78,536#673 Alejandra · 78,499#675 Erick · 78,395#676 Nelson · 78,256

Spelled almost the same

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

#12,017 Gordan · 1,049#16,455 Gorden · 685

Also a last name

As a last name, Gordon ranks #163 of 156,621, with 157,985 people. See Gordon as a last name

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