How Many People Are Named Gay?
An estimated 10,004 people in the United States have the first name Gay. It is predominantly female (92.9%). The average bearer is 71 years old, and Gay peaked in popularity in 1959 with 692 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Gay 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 Gay paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- With an average bearer age of 71, Gay is a vintage name most associated with earlier generations. Most living bearers were born before 1965.
Estimated Living Americans
10,004
About 1 in 34,262 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
92.9% confidence
Average Age
71
years old
Peak Year
1959
692 births
Total Registered
19,367
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Gay
Gay is predominantly female (92.9%), though 1,382 male births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Gay as a male name
Ranked #4,850 in 1974
6 male births in 1974
Peak: 1941 (42 births)
Gay as a female name
Ranked #9,597 in 1982
6 female births in 1982
Peak: 1959 (682 births)
Gay: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Gay span from the 1880s to the 1980s, covering 11 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 5,859 babies were registered. Gay has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Gay by Decade
How has Gay 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.
Gay by State
Birth registrations for Gay span all 46 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, New York. The lowest are in Vermont, Nevada, Wyoming. On average, about 323 Gays were registered per state.
Gay + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Gay as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Gay
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
Gay: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gay?
We estimate approximately 10,004 people named Gay 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 34,262 Americans share this first name.
Is Gay a common name?
Gay is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 97.7% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 19,367 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Gay most popular?
Gay reached peak popularity in 1959, when 692 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Gay is approximately 71 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Gay a female name?
Gay is predominantly female. 92.9% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Gay Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Gay Smith, Gay Johnson, Gay 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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