Recorded 1940–2017 Boys' name Peak 1990 430 births

Garreth — boys' name

430 babies named Garreth in U.S. Social Security records since 1940, with the highest year being 1990. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1940s101960s311970s361980s931990s1302000s912010s39
1990s
Peak decade

30% of everyone ever named Garreth was born in this single decade.

1990
Single peak year

19 babies were named Garreth in 1990 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Garreth

The Social Security Administration has registered 430 babies named Garreth between 1940 and 2017, spanning 78 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Garreth currently falls outside the top 1,000 boys' names for 2017. The name reached its historical peak in 1990, when 19 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Garreth performed strongest in the 1990s, accumulating 130 births during that ten-year window. Across the 7 decades of recorded activity, Garreth shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 5 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by . In total, SSA state-level files list Garreth in 1 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Garreth 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 430 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.

Garreth at a glance

Last recorded 2017

Total births

430

Since 1940

78 years of records

Peak year

1990

19 births that year

Strongest decade: 1990s

Current rank

Unranked

Outside the modern top-1,000

As of 2017

Active since

1940

Recorded for 78 years

Last year on file: 2017

Garreth popularity over time

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2017–1940

Last recorded 2017
Peak year (1990)
19
Annual births at peak — across 78 years of records
05101520 201720092002199619901984197719651940 5

Garreth by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1990s
Peak decade
1990s
130 births that decade — 30% of Garreth's all-time total
1940s101960s311970s361980s931990s1302000s912010s39

Garreth by state

Where Garreth concentrates geographically — total births since 1940

Geographically diffuse
Top 1 states by recorded births for the name Garreth
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
5 1.2%
California share of Garreth's total US births 1.2%

5 of 430 births nationwide.

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Garreth?
430 babies have been named Garreth since 1940. It was last recorded in 2017. The peak year was 1990 with 19 births.
When was Garreth most popular?
Garreth was most popular in the 1990s decade with 130 total births. The single peak year was 1990.
Where is Garreth most popular?
The top states for the name Garreth are California (5 births).
How long has the name Garreth been used?
Garreth has been recorded in Social Security data since 1940, spanning 78 years of data through 2017.
What names are similar to Garreth?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Gary, Garrett, Garry, Garland, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

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, 1940–2017 (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.