Gage
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Meaning
a pledge; also an occupational surname for a measurer/assayer
The story
Gage comes from Old French, and from two different words that happen to look alike. One is gage, a pledge, the glove thrown down as surety that a challenge would be answered, which also gave the surname for a moneylender holding goods against a loan. The other is gauge, a measure, which gave an occupational surname for the official who checked weights and casks. Scholars treat the two as unrelated, so a Gage inherits one story or the other, not both. Trace-level from the 1970s, it climbed through the 1990s to a peak across the 2000s and 2010s, riding the same one-syllable surname wave that carried Cade, Knox, and Chase. It has eased in the 2020s. Either way the name closes like a door: a single hard syllable that needs no nickname, because there is nothing left to shorten.
How popular is Gage around the world?
In the United States, 2,462 babies were named Gage between 2020 and 2025.
Gage is on the official records of the United States, South Australia and Canada.
United States
1 in 8,900
In the United States, 2,462 babies were named Gage between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Gage peaked in the 2000s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure. Gage went to 1,541 US babies in 2015 and 235 in 2025, 15% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Gage in 2017.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 22,000
In Canada, 17 boys named Gage were born in 2024, ranked 1,331st among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
last on record 2023
Gage is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Scotland
last on record 1991
Gage is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Gage
Most people given the name Gage in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names that go with Gage · Short names · Climbers and fallers
The Gage deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Gage truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Gage fits with your family’s names and surname.
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