How Many People Are Named Gale?
An estimated 17,772 people in the United States have the first name Gale. It is used for both genders, with 61.6% female. The average bearer is 70 years old, and Gale peaked in popularity in 1957 with 1,364 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Gale as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Gale paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Gale is a genuinely unisex name, given to both boys and girls in roughly equal numbers.
- With an average bearer age of 70, Gale is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1966.
- Gale has fallen dramatically from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are less than 5% of what they were at the name's height.
Estimated Living Americans
17,772
About 1 in 19,286 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
61.6% confidence
Average Age
70
years old
Peak Year
1957
1,364 births
Total Registered
32,330
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Gale
Gale is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (38.4%) and females (61.6%). Out of 32,330 total births registered, 12,424 were male and 19,906 were female.
Gale as a male name
Ranked #6,562 in 2024
13 male births in 2024
Peak: 1947 (377 births)
Gale as a female name
Ranked #15,972 in 2023
5 female births in 2023
Peak: 1957 (1,210 births)
Gale: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Gale span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 11,774 babies were registered. Gale has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Gale by Decade
How has Gale tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 16 | 16 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 69 | 53 | 16 | |
| 1900s | 149 | 115 | 34 | |
| 1910s | 1,033 | 865 | 168 | |
| 1920s | 2,339 | 2,008 | 331 | |
| 1930s | 3,468 | 2,428 | 1,040 | |
| 1940s | 8,009 | 3,109 | 4,900 | |
| 1950s | 11,774 | 2,295 | 9,479 | |
| 1960s | 3,834 | 837 | 2,997 | |
| 1970s | 1,011 | 361 | 650 | |
| 1980s | 325 | 134 | 191 | |
| 1990s | 119 | 61 | 58 | |
| 2000s | 50 | 37 | 13 | |
| 2010s | 88 | 64 | 24 | |
| 2020s | 46 | 41 | 5 | |
Gale by State
Birth registrations for Gale span all 49 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, Illinois, California. The lowest are in Vermont, New Mexico, Wyoming. On average, about 535 Gales were registered per state.
Gale + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Gale as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Gale
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
Gale: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gale?
We estimate approximately 17,772 people named Gale are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 19,286 Americans share this first name.
Is Gale a common name?
Gale is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.4% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 32,330 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Gale most popular?
Gale reached peak popularity in 1957, when 1,364 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Gale is approximately 70 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Gale a female name?
Gale is predominantly female. 61.6% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Gale Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Gale Smith, Gale Johnson, Gale Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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