Gail — #6619 US girls' name
201,730 babies named Gail in U.S. Social Security records since 1881, with the highest year being 1951. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 63% of names given to girls today.
42% of everyone ever named Gail was born in this single decade.
9,886 babies were named Gail in 1951 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Gail
The Social Security Administration has registered 201,730 babies named Gail between 1881 and 2024, spanning 144 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Gail currently holds the #6619 rank among girls for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1951, when 9,886 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Gail performed strongest in the 1950s, accumulating 85,619 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Gail shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in New York, which accounts for 26,582 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by California and Pennsylvania. In total, SSA state-level files list Gail in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Gail in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 201,730 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Gail at a glance
Outside the top 1,000Peak year
Current rank
Active since
Gail popularity over time — girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1881
- Peak year (1951)
- 9,886
- Annual births at peak — across 144 years of records
Currently ranks #6619 among girls.
201,730 total births across 144 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1951 with 9,886 births in a single year.
Gail popularity over time — boys
8,951 total births recorded since 1882 (Gail as boys' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The boys' variant of Gail accounts for 4% of total recorded use across both genders.
Gail by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1950s
- 85,619 births that decade — 42% of Gail's all-time total
Gail decade highlights
- Peak decade 85,619 births
- Runner-up 53,139 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1950s was Gail's strongest decade
85,619 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 42% of all-time use.
Gail by state
Where Gail concentrates geographically — total births since 1881
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | New York | | 26,582 | 13.2% |
| #2 | California | | 14,160 | 7.0% |
| #3 | Pennsylvania | | 13,116 | 6.5% |
| #4 | Illinois | | 12,651 | 6.3% |
| #5 | Massachusetts | | 11,544 | 5.7% |
| #6 | Michigan | | 11,399 | 5.7% |
| #7 | New Jersey | | 10,128 | 5.0% |
| #8 | Ohio | | 9,157 | 4.5% |
26,582 of 201,730 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- New York 13.2% of nationwide
- California 7.0% of nationwide
- Pennsylvania 6.5% of nationwide
- Illinois 6.3% of nationwide
- Massachusetts 5.7% of nationwide
Recorded in 51 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
New York accounts for 13.2% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Gail appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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Keep exploring Gail
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1881–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.