Galilee
Feminine · “district”
Galilee is the region in northern Israel where most of the gospel story takes place, and its Hebrew name is a plain geographical word: a district, or a circuit of country.
How old is the name Galilee?
Galilee first appears in US birth records in 2001 — 24 years ago. The typical Galilee is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Galilee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Galilee most popular?
Galilee peaked in 2023, reaching #2757 nationally. Today it ranks #3712, 955 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From galil to Galilee
The story of Galilee
Galil means a circuit, and the region was named the district of the nations because of who surrounded it. Almost all of the gospel narrative happens there rather than in Jerusalem, which is part of the point the texts are making. English Protestants used biblical place names as given names after the Reformation, and Galilee appears in American records in small numbers from the nineteenth century, mostly for girls.
Meaning
district, circuit
From Hebrew galil, a circle or district, in the phrase galil ha-goyim, the district of the nations; the region was called that because it was ringed by non-Israelite peoples. The English word for a church porch comes from the same source by a separate route.
How the name formed
- galil
- Galilee
Related forms: Galil · Galilea · Galilaia
Pronouncing Galilee
GAL-ih-lee
Three syllables, first stressed. Hebrew Galil is ga-LEEL, with two.
Nicknames for Galilee
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
- 2001
- Most girls named
- 202362 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2757reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- −25.9%40 in 2025, from 54
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.
Galilee in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Galil in Hebrew — related form
- Galilea in Spanish — same name
- Galilaia in Greek — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Galilees among us
people named Galilee are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 40,182 born in 2025 was named Galilee
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 Saresa test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Galilee's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Saresa climbed just as high around 1974, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Saresa's path sketches the road Galilee is walking now.
Galilee 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
Where Galilee is headed
Galilee looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 18% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Galilee beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Galilee in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled and plainly geographical meaning that is easy to explain.
- Lee is a complete short form that carries into adult life.
- The place behind it is among the best-documented in the ancient world.
- It names a specific and much-contested region, which is a fact worth knowing.
- The astronomer Galileo shares the sound, which will be mentioned.
- Eight letters and three syllables is a fair amount for early handwriting.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Galilee
Feminine · #3712 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Galilees are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Galilee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Galilee in 2025?
- Galilee ranks #3712 among US girl names in 2025, with 40 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Galilee?
- About 1 in every 40,182 US girls born in 2025 was named Galilee — 40 in all.
- Will my child share the name Galilee with classmates?
- Galilee will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Galilee
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Monet#3712 · Barrett#3712 · October#3712 · Aubrianna#3712 · Mishka#3712 · Berkleigh#3712 · Zailey#3712 · Ora#3712
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Galilee? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Galilee and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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