Meaning not yet researched.
Gay: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 0 in 2025. Its best rank was #315 in 1943.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Fewer than five US girls were given it in 2025. It peaked at #315 in 1943. No US babies were recorded with the name Gay in 2025.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
Given to fewer than five US girls in 2025; it peaked at #315 in 1943.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Gay: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 0 girls in 2025. Peak: #315 in 1943 · most girls in one year: 682 (1959).
Fewer than five US girls were named Gay in 2025, so it does not appear in that year’s SSA list for girls. Its best rank for girls was #315, reached in 1943. The most girls given the name in a single year was 682, in 1959. For comparison, it was unranked (under five girls) in 2015 and #359 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Gay in 96 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1883 with 5 babies. In all, 19,367 US babies have been given the name, 93% of them girls and 7.1% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1950s, with 5,860 babies named Gay.
In none of the 10 years from 2016 to 2025 were five or more US girls named Gay.
Related spellings in the SSA files include Gaye (5,746 babies since 1880) and Gaia (2,434 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Gae, Gao and Gaya are summarised on this page.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in English. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Gae (652), Gao (375), Gaya (73), Gaea (51), Gai (33).
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Gay in the open dataset we use.
Gay is listed as a nickname for Gerhardt.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 6 | #9,597 | — | — |
| 1979 | 10 | #6,347 | — | — |
| 1978 | 8 | #7,161 | — | — |
| 1977 | 13 | #5,020 | — | — |
| 1976 | 16 | #4,019 | — | — |
| 1975 | 30 | #2,577 | — | — |
| 1974 | 30 | #2,517 | 6 | #4,850 |
| 1973 | 22 | #3,049 | — | — |
| 1972 | 59 | #1,570 | 6 | #4,628 |
| 1971 | 78 | #1,368 | 5 | #5,187 |
| 1970 | 122 | #1,019 | 7 | #3,989 |
| 1969 | 127 | #945 | 6 | #4,111 |
| 1968 | 169 | #768 | 6 | #3,860 |
| 1967 | 178 | #735 | 5 | #4,176 |
| 1966 | 235 | #620 | 9 | #2,858 |
| 1965 | 302 | #548 | 7 | #3,353 |
| 1964 | 350 | #526 | 7 | #3,398 |
| 1963 | 381 | #497 | 8 | #3,151 |
| 1962 | 445 | #462 | 6 | #3,783 |
| 1961 | 596 | #396 | 8 | #3,194 |
| 1960 | 626 | #381 | 11 | #2,589 |
| 1959 | 682 | #362 | 10 | #2,714 |
| 1958 | 488 | #425 | 14 | #2,210 |
| 1957 | 584 | #374 | 13 | #2,307 |
| 1956 | 528 | #389 | 26 | #1,549 |
| 1955 | 496 | #395 | 14 | #2,170 |
| 1954 | 632 | #338 | 25 | #1,536 |
| 1953 | 579 | #350 | 26 | #1,490 |
| 1952 | 643 | #318 | 19 | #1,768 |
| 1951 | 541 | #342 | 35 | #1,249 |
| 1950 | 481 | #359 | 24 | #1,511 |
| 1949 | 488 | #356 | 23 | #1,557 |
| 1948 | 472 | #358 | 39 | #1,150 |
| 1947 | 542 | #340 | 25 | #1,497 |
| 1946 | 485 | #335 | 19 | #1,661 |
| 1945 | 395 | #345 | 31 | #1,190 |
| 1944 | 397 | #344 | 26 | #1,317 |
| 1943 | 487 | #315 | 24 | #1,442 |
| 1942 | 388 | #354 | 28 | #1,321 |
| 1941 | 367 | #343 | 42 | #994 |
| 1940 | 308 | #378 | 19 | #1,592 |
| 1939 | 338 | #346 | 35 | #1,092 |
| 1938 | 323 | #362 | 30 | #1,205 |
| 1937 | 340 | #345 | 27 | #1,293 |
| 1936 | 319 | #354 | 31 | #1,193 |
| 1935 | 266 | #394 | 32 | #1,177 |
| 1934 | 236 | #427 | 28 | #1,281 |
| 1933 | 227 | #429 | 26 | #1,317 |
| 1932 | 217 | #449 | 29 | #1,273 |
| 1931 | 166 | #501 | 27 | #1,345 |
| 1930 | 155 | #548 | 35 | #1,201 |
| 1929 | 114 | #653 | 30 | #1,304 |
| 1928 | 91 | #745 | 30 | #1,336 |
| 1927 | 82 | #805 | 28 | #1,419 |
| 1926 | 80 | #818 | 23 | #1,584 |
| 1925 | 82 | #822 | 30 | #1,341 |
| 1924 | 59 | #996 | 29 | #1,391 |
| 1923 | 69 | #886 | 17 | #1,974 |
| 1922 | 55 | #1,015 | 19 | #1,846 |
| 1921 | 56 | #1,008 | 25 | #1,523 |
| 1920 | 57 | #971 | 27 | #1,437 |
| 1919 | 67 | #852 | 17 | #1,914 |
| 1918 | 64 | #897 | 15 | #2,105 |
| 1917 | 74 | #801 | 27 | #1,345 |
| 1916 | 68 | #820 | 25 | #1,392 |
| 1915 | 59 | #852 | 22 | #1,476 |
| 1914 | 42 | #906 | 15 | #1,634 |
| 1913 | 34 | #917 | 15 | #1,393 |
| 1912 | 26 | #1,014 | 13 | #1,382 |
| 1911 | 23 | #912 | 6 | #1,611 |
| 1910 | 26 | #849 | 9 | #1,146 |
| 1909 | 26 | #801 | — | — |
| 1908 | 20 | #893 | — | — |
| 1907 | 25 | #753 | 5 | #1,409 |
| 1906 | 15 | #977 | 5 | #1,308 |
| 1905 | 15 | #982 | — | — |
| 1904 | 16 | #918 | — | — |
| 1903 | 18 | #820 | 6 | #1,062 |
| 1902 | 17 | #855 | — | — |
| 1901 | 13 | #936 | — | — |
| 1900 | 18 | #894 | — | — |
| 1899 | 26 | #610 | 7 | #892 |
| 1898 | 15 | #898 | — | — |
| 1897 | 13 | #909 | 5 | #1,125 |
| 1896 | 16 | #821 | 7 | #929 |
| 1895 | 10 | #1,082 | — | — |
| 1894 | 17 | #724 | 7 | #898 |
| 1893 | 17 | #728 | — | — |
| 1892 | 18 | #696 | 6 | #1,004 |
| 1891 | 12 | #813 | 6 | #888 |
| 1890 | 16 | #677 | 8 | #773 |
| 1889 | 12 | #770 | — | — |
| 1888 | 14 | #700 | 8 | #777 |
| 1887 | 10 | #756 | — | — |
| 1886 | 5 | #1,175 | 6 | #892 |
| 1883 | — | — | 5 | #951 |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).