Galen
Masculine · “calm”
Galen is given to both — 16,500 boys and 560 girls since 1880. See Galen as a girl 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 1889 — 136 years ago. The typical Galen alive today was born around 1960, making them about 65 years old. About 11,000 people named Galen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Galen most popular?
Galen peaked in 1949, reaching #329 nationally. Today it ranks #4396, 4,067 places below that high. See the whole 1949 chart.
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
- 1889
- Most boys named
- 1950326 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #329reached in 1949
- Change vs 2022
- −54.9%23 in 2025, from 51
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
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Indiana, New York.
Galens among us
people named Galen are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 74,264 born in 2025 was named Galen
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 Norris test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Galen's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Norris climbed just as high around 1924, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Norris's path sketches the road Galen is walking now.
Galen 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
Galen beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Galen in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
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.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Galen to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Galen? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Galen
Masculine · #4396 in the U.S.
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 11,000 people named Galen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Galen in 2025?
- Galen ranks #4396 among US boy names in 2025, with 23 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Galen?
- About 1 in every 74,264 US boys born in 2025 was named Galen — 23 in all.
- Will my child share the name Galen with classmates?
- Galen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Galen
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Odell#4396 · Corwin#4396 · Tennyson#4396 · Marques#4396 · Manu#4396 · Omid#4396 · Zackariah#4396 · Burton#4396
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Galen? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Galen and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle