Garrett
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Meaning
spear strength (variant of Gerald); famously borne by Garrett Morgan, inventor of an early gas mask and the three-position traffic signal
The story
Garrett looks like a modern surname pick, but it is medieval at the root: an English and Irish surname grown out of Gerald, the old Germanic name meaning spear strength, carried across the Channel by the Normans. Its proudest American bearer is Garrett Morgan, the son of formerly enslaved parents who became one of the country's great practical inventors: his safety hood, an early gas mask, helped rescue workers from a smoke-filled tunnel beneath Lake Erie in 1916, and his three-position traffic signal, with its warning interval, was a forerunner of the modern yellow light. The name itself kept a low, steady profile in US records for most of a century, then climbed sharply through the 1980s and 1990s and stayed strong through the 2010s. It has eased a little lately, which only adds to the appeal: familiar, sturdy, and no longer everywhere.
Garrett across languages
One shared root links 7 names across 4 languages.
Shared root: two Germanic ger "spear" compounds, Gerald with wald "rule" and Gerard with hart "hard, brave", so entangled in medieval English use that their descendants are shared
The constellation
More branches
How popular is Garrett around the world?
In the United States, 3,983 babies were named Garrett between 2020 and 2025.
Garrett is on the official records of the United States and Canada.
United States
1 in 5,500
In the United States, 3,983 babies were named Garrett between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Garrett peaked in the 1990s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure. Garrett went to 1,352 US babies in 2015 and 526 in 2025, 39% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 12,000
In Canada, 31 boys named Garrett were born in 2024, the 831st most common name 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 2019
Garrett 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
Ireland
last on record 2021
Garrett is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Mexico City City
last on record 2016
Garrett is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
South Australia
last on record 2000
Garrett is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 2 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
Not on the record in Spain, Argentina, Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Scotland 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 Garrett
Most people given the name Garrett in the United States were born between 1990 and 2009. The Garrett you meet today is most often in his 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Garrett · Names that go with Garrett · Names of geniuses and inventors · Climbers and fallers
The Garrett deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Garrett 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 Garrett fits with your family’s names and surname.
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