Gamaliel
Masculine · “God is my reward”
Gamaliel is a Hebrew name that reads as a complete sentence — God is my reward — and it belongs to two well-known figures, one in the wilderness census of Numbers and one a teacher in the book of Acts.
How old is the name Gamaliel?
Gamaliel first appears in US birth records in 1921 — 104 years ago. The typical Gamaliel alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 1,900 people named Gamaliel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gamaliel most popular?
Gamaliel peaked in 1979, reaching #1788 nationally. Today it ranks #3181, 1,393 places below that high. See the whole 1979 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Gamliel to Gamaliel
The story of Gamaliel
The first Gamaliel is a tribal leader in Numbers; the second is the rabbi under whom Paul says he studied, a figure honored in Jewish tradition as one of the great teachers of his generation. The name stayed in Jewish use and was picked up by English Puritans in the seventeenth century, which is how it reached colonial America. It is used today in Jewish families, in Spanish-speaking Christian ones — where it is notably common in Mexico — and in the Philippines.
Meaning
God is my reward
From the Hebrew elements for a reward or recompense and for God, joined with the first-person possessive; the same second element closes Daniel, Michael and Nathaniel.
How the name formed
- Gamliel
- Gamaliel
Related forms: Gamliel · Gamaliel · Gamaliil
Pronouncing Gamaliel
guh-MAY-lee-ul
Four syllables with the stress on the second in English. Spanish gives ga-ma-LYEL, with the stress at the end.
Nicknames for Gamaliel
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
- 1921
- Most boys named
- 200553 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1788reached in 1979
- Change vs 2024
- +15.6%37 in 2025, from 32
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.
Gamaliel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gamliel in Hebrew — same name
- Gamaliel in Spanish — same name
- Gamaliil in Greek — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Gamaliels among us
people named Gamaliel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 46,164 born in 2025 was named Gamaliel
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 Jae test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Gamaliel's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jae climbed just as high around 1957, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jae's path sketches the road Gamaliel is walking now.
Gamaliel 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 Gamaliel is headed
Gamaliel should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Gamaliel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Gamaliel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning that forms a complete sentence, which few names manage.
- Documented from the Hebrew Bible through the New Testament to the present.
- Gama is an easy, warm short form already standard in Spanish-speaking families.
- Eight letters and four syllables is long for early handwriting and for American forms.
- The English and Spanish stress patterns are entirely different.
- It is an unusual name in English-speaking settings and will be asked about often.
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Gamaliel
Masculine · #3181 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Gamaliels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Gamaliel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gamaliel in 2025?
- Gamaliel ranks #3181 among US boy names in 2025, with 37 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Gamaliel?
- About 1 in every 46,164 US boys born in 2025 was named Gamaliel — 37 in all.
- Will my child share the name Gamaliel with classmates?
- Gamaliel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Gamaliel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Diamond#3181 · Walden#3181 · Tobin#3181 · Keion#3181 · Artem#3181 · Arsh#3181 · Kris#3181 · Esau#3181
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gamaliel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Gamaliel and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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