Gaylord
Gaylord was last recorded in 1998, when 5 babies were given it; 6,091 Americans have been recorded with it between 1882 and 1998 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,710 Americans named Gaylord and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (28% of everyone recorded); the median is 74 years old and half are between 63 and 81.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Gaylord by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Gaylord mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Gaylord is “a male given name transferred from the surname, popular in the 20th century until the 1960s.” Its etymology gives the sense “strong” (gaillard).
Derived from the Old French surname Gaillard (from gaillard (“strong”)), via Anglo-Norman. Compare Spanish Gallardo (from gallardo (“dashing, strapping, gallant”). Shaped by folk etymology into gay + lord.
/ˈɡeɪˌlɔɹd/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Gaylord?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #10,149, in 1998; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
168 babies in 1931, the peak
Gaylord peaked in 1931, when 168 boys were given it, #438 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 5 | #10,149 | under 0.01 |
| 1994 | 5 | #9,294 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 5 | #8,876 | under 0.01 |
| 1990 | 7 | #6,668 | under 0.01 |
| 1988 | 11 | #4,265 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 8 | #5,121 | under 0.01 |
| 1985 | 9 | #4,442 | under 0.01 |
| 1984 | 9 | #4,322 | under 0.01 |
| 1983 | 14 | #3,127 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 8 | #4,745 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (102)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 10 | #3,944 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 11 | #3,701 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 9 | #4,184 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 8 | #4,289 | under 0.01 |
| 1977 | 14 | #2,960 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 18 | #2,452 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 20 | #2,239 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 19 | #2,220 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 29 | #1,621 | 0.02 |
| 1972 | 26 | #1,741 | 0.02 |
| 1971 | 36 | #1,423 | 0.02 |
| 1970 | 23 | #1,864 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 24 | #1,698 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 18 | #1,916 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 35 | #1,276 | 0.02 |
| 1966 | 23 | #1,629 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 26 | #1,534 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 30 | #1,446 | 0.02 |
| 1963 | 38 | #1,261 | 0.02 |
| 1962 | 47 | #1,126 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 43 | #1,212 | 0.02 |
| 1960 | 39 | #1,258 | 0.02 |
| 1959 | 51 | #1,088 | 0.02 |
| 1958 | 42 | #1,192 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 57 | #1,007 | 0.03 |
| 1956 | 81 | #831 | 0.04 |
| 1955 | 65 | #923 | 0.03 |
| 1954 | 68 | #896 | 0.03 |
| 1953 | 86 | #764 | 0.04 |
| 1952 | 109 | #662 | 0.06 |
| 1951 | 91 | #727 | 0.05 |
| 1950 | 94 | #707 | 0.05 |
| 1949 | 120 | #620 | 0.07 |
| 1948 | 113 | #636 | 0.06 |
| 1947 | 120 | #626 | 0.07 |
| 1946 | 117 | #595 | 0.07 |
| 1945 | 116 | #555 | 0.09 |
| 1944 | 120 | #552 | 0.09 |
| 1943 | 146 | #516 | 0.10 |
| 1942 | 155 | #495 | 0.11 |
| 1941 | 136 | #502 | 0.11 |
| 1940 | 127 | #514 | 0.11 |
| 1939 | 124 | #510 | 0.11 |
| 1938 | 134 | #502 | 0.12 |
| 1937 | 114 | #545 | 0.11 |
| 1936 | 118 | #524 | 0.11 |
| 1935 | 109 | #551 | 0.10 |
| 1934 | 132 | #504 | 0.13 |
| 1933 | 96 | #594 | 0.10 |
| 1932 | 136 | #491 | 0.13 |
| 1931 | 168 | #438 | 0.16 |
| 1930 | 132 | #522 | 0.12 |
| 1929 | 109 | #574 | 0.10 |
| 1928 | 132 | #526 | 0.12 |
| 1927 | 134 | #528 | 0.12 |
| 1926 | 131 | #530 | 0.12 |
| 1925 | 112 | #594 | 0.10 |
| 1924 | 119 | #583 | 0.11 |
| 1923 | 128 | #542 | 0.12 |
| 1922 | 119 | #590 | 0.11 |
| 1921 | 113 | #597 | 0.10 |
| 1920 | 126 | #548 | 0.12 |
| 1919 | 110 | #572 | 0.11 |
| 1918 | 139 | #509 | 0.14 |
| 1917 | 107 | #572 | 0.12 |
| 1916 | 102 | #566 | 0.11 |
| 1915 | 109 | #532 | 0.13 |
| 1914 | 81 | #550 | 0.12 |
| 1913 | 59 | #569 | 0.12 |
| 1912 | 40 | #674 | 0.09 |
| 1911 | 16 | #842 | 0.07 |
| 1910 | 13 | #891 | 0.07 |
| 1909 | 21 | #580 | 0.13 |
| 1908 | 18 | #618 | 0.12 |
| 1907 | 15 | #680 | 0.10 |
| 1906 | 10 | #817 | 0.08 |
| 1905 | 11 | #762 | 0.08 |
| 1904 | 8 | #920 | 0.06 |
| 1903 | 7 | #950 | 0.06 |
| 1902 | 10 | #765 | 0.08 |
| 1901 | 6 | #988 | 0.06 |
| 1900 | 8 | #993 | 0.05 |
| 1899 | 9 | #740 | 0.08 |
| 1898 | 8 | #832 | 0.07 |
| 1897 | 10 | #701 | 0.09 |
| 1895 | 5 | #1,146 | 0.04 |
| 1892 | 6 | #1,004 | 0.05 |
| 1891 | 6 | #888 | 0.06 |
| 1889 | 6 | #918 | 0.05 |
| 1887 | 9 | #650 | 0.09 |
| 1885 | 5 | #994 | 0.05 |
| 1882 | 5 | #994 | 0.04 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Gaylord a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Gaylord has been given almost only to boys: 5 girls in 102 years of records.
Girls and boys named Gaylord: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Gaylord, and how old are they?
1,710 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 28% of the 6,091 Americans ever recorded as Gaylord. The median Gaylord alive today is 74 years old; half are between 63 and 81.
The 2020 Census counted 2,236 people named Gaylord (25 women and girls, 2,211 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,249 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 451 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 877 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 296 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 81 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 5 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Gaylord born?
The states with the most babies named Gaylord are Michigan, Wisconsin and Illinois, with 35% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Wisconsin is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michigan | 509 | not ranked | 2.1× |
| Wisconsin | 345 | not ranked | 2.4× |
| Illinois | 328 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Ohio | 326 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Iowa | 307 | not ranked | 2.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 277 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| California | 256 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Minnesota | 205 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Nebraska | 183 | not ranked | 2.8× |
| Indiana | 153 | not ranked | 1.0× |
Where Gaylord is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Gaylord is most over-represented in Nebraska: since 1910 it was given 2.8 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Gaylord with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Gaylord
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Gaylord and names like it
- Compare Gaylord and ArnoldBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sGaylord peaked in 1931.
- Michigan’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Gaylord since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Gaylord: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1931The year the most babies were named Gaylord.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Gaylord alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with GMost given first.