Galen
Feminine · “calm”
Galen is given to both — 560 girls and 16,500 boys since 1880. See Galen as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Galen is a Greek name meaning calm, carried in antiquity by the most famous physician of the Roman world. It is two soft syllables, given almost entirely to boys, and it sounds as steady as its meaning.
How old is the name Galen?
Galen first appears in US birth records in 1938 — 87 years ago. The typical Galen alive today was born around 1981, making them about 44 years old. About 500 people named Galen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Galen most popular?
Galen peaked in 1943, reaching #2352 nationally. See the whole 1943 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From galēnē to Galen
The story of Galen
To the Greeks, galēnē was the stillness of the sea on a windless day, and Galene was one of the Nereids, the sea nymphs, the one who stood for calm water. Galen, the physician whose writings shaped medicine for centuries, carried the same word as his name. It also sounds like galena, the shining gray ore of lead, whose crystals were the heart of early crystal radio sets: a thin wire called a cat's whisker touched the crystal, and a voice came through the headphones. The name is recorded for a few girls, but it is a boy's name almost everywhere.
Meaning
calm
From Greek galēnos, calm, tranquil, related to galēnē, a calm sea.
How the name formed
- galēnē
- Galēnos
- Galen
Related forms: Galinos · Galenus
Pronouncing Galen
GAY-lun
Two syllables, stressed on the first.
Nicknames for Galen
Limited
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
- 1938
- Most girls named
- 199325 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2352reached in 1943
- Change vs 2003
- −14.3%6 in 2005, from 7
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.
Galen in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Galinos in Greek — related form
- Galenus in Latin — related form
Galens among us
people named Galen are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Galen sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Its meaning, calm, is clear and appealing.
- It has a famous classical namesake.
- It is familiar without being common.
- People may write Gaylen or Galin.
- A very few girls have been given it; for them it will read as a boy's name everywhere.
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What they receive
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Galen
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Galens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Galen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Galen in 2025?
- Galen is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Galen with classmates?
- Galen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More G names
The most-given names starting with G, all years combined.
Grace#38 · Gloria#654 · Gladys#3211 · Geraldine#2438 · Gail#8362 · Gertrude#6546 · Georgia#99 · Gina#2076
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Galen? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Galen and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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