NameRealm
Gary

Gary: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“uncertain”
Origin
Unknown
Say it
GAIR-ee · 2 syllables
Used for
Boys

Modern English given name popularized in part by actor Gary Cooper, who took it from Gary, Indiana. It may derive from a surname, but its ultimate etymology is uncertain. The origin of this name is not settled among etymologists.

English namesAmerican namesModern names

How popular is Gary?

202456.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Gary in 2024187

2024 rank#1,129 boys

Peak year1951

Total US babies since 1880905,223

Gary is fading: recent use is about 51% of its level ten years before.

Names like Gary

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Garryspear · Germanic
  • Kaisea; shell; forgiveness · Unknown
  • Arlouncertain · Unknown
  • Coreyfrom the hollow · Unknown
  • Caspianof the Caspian Sea · Unknown
  • Kyrouncertain · Unknown
  • Brayanuncertain; usually treated as Brian variant · Unknown
  • Dakariuncertain · Unknown

Gary questions

What does the name Gary mean?

Gary means "uncertain". It comes from Unknown. Modern English given name popularized in part by actor Gary Cooper, who took it from Gary, Indiana. It may derive from a surname, but its ultimate etymology is uncertain.

Is Gary a boy or girl name?

Gary is mainly a boy's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Gary?

187 US babies were named Gary in 2024. Its peak year was 1951.

How do you pronounce Gary?

Gary is usually pronounced GAIR-ee.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.