Gay
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Meaning
from the English word gay, meaning joyful or carefree, from Old French gai; use as a first name faded after the word's meaning shifted
How popular is Gay around the world?
In the United States, Gay is not on the Social Security record for 2020 to 2025: names under 5 in a year are withheld at source. Gay is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
United States
under 5 a year
In the United States, Gay is not on the Social Security record for 2020 to 2025: names under 5 in a year are withheld at source.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Gay peaked in the 1930s and the 1960s in nearly equal measure. Gay went to 5,860 US babies in the 1950s and has no row at all in the published 2025 record. US Social Security holds back any name given to fewer than five babies of one sex.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
New Zealand
last on record 1962
Gay is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
South Australia
last on record 1979
Gay is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 5 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, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, England and Wales, Canada, Ireland, 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 Gay
Most people given the name Gay in the United States were born between 1940 and 1969. The Gay you meet today is most often in her 60s or 70s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Gay deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Gay 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 Gay fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Gay fit YOUR family?
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