Gale
Masculine · “cheerful”
Gale is given to both — 12,437 boys and 19,906 girls since 1880. See Gale as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Gale for a son is the older use — an English surname from a word meaning cheerful or lively, quite separate from the wind, which is a different word entirely.
How old is the name Gale?
Gale first appears in US birth records in 1883 — 142 years ago. The typical Gale alive today was born around 1942, making them about 83 years old. About 5,000 people named Gale are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gale most popular?
Gale peaked in 1939, reaching #321 nationally. Today it ranks #6446, 6,125 places below that high. See the whole 1939 chart.
Where it comes from
From gaile to Gale
The story of Gale
Gale and Gayle were English surnames that became given names, masculine first. Gale appears steadily in American records for boys through the first half of the twentieth century, peaking around 1938. The feminine use, largely through Abigail, overtook it in the 1950s and the masculine reading faded.
Meaningscholars disagree
cheerful, lively
The commonest reading takes the surname from the Middle English gaile, 'jovial' or 'boisterous'. A second route runs through Gael or through the Old English gafol, 'rent' or 'tribute'. The weather word 'gale' has an unrelated and unrecovered origin, probably Scandinavian.
How the name formed
- gaile
- Gale
Related forms: Gayle · Gail
Pronouncing Gale
GAYL
One syllable. Gale, Gail and Gayle are homophones; only the spelling differs.
Nicknames for Gale
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1883
- Most boys named
- 1947377 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #321reached in 1939
- Change vs 2023
- −13.3%13 in 2025, from 15
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Gale in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gayle in English — spelling variant
- Gail in English — spelling variant
Gales among us
people named Gale are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 131,390 born in 2025 was named Gale
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Merrill test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Gale's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Merrill climbed just as high around 1916, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Merrill's path sketches the road Gale is walking now.
Gale sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Gale beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Gale in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The cheerful meaning is transparent and attractive.
- One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
- It has a genuine and documented masculine record.
- In America the name now reads as feminine to nearly everyone.
- It is a homophone of an unrelated weather word.
- The masculine use is period-coded to the 1930s and 1940s.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Gale
Masculine · #6446 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Gales are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,000 people named Gale are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gale in 2025?
- Gale ranks #6446 among US boy names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Gale?
- About 1 in every 131,390 US boys born in 2025 was named Gale — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Gale with classmates?
- Gale will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Gale
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rollie#6446 · Billie#6446 · Worth#6446 · Blas#6446 · Starling#6446 · Alvis#6446 · Elwyn#6446 · Rollin#6446
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gale? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Gale and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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