Garfield
Masculine · “triangular field”
Garfield is an English surname built from two ordinary words, and like several names of its period it entered American use through a president rather than through a family.
How old is the name Garfield?
Garfield was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Garfield alive today was born around 1930, making them about 95 years old. About 1,700 people named Garfield are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Garfield most popular?
Garfield peaked in 1881, reaching #88 nationally. Today it ranks #12008, 11,920 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Garfield appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From gara to Garfield
The story of Garfield
James Garfield was elected president and shot within the same year, and the shock of it ran through American naming the way such events do. Boys were given the surname in numbers that had never happened before and did not continue for long. The pattern is a familiar one in the birth records — a public death produces a sharper, shorter spike than a public triumph — and this name shows it as clearly as any.
Meaning
triangular field
From Old English gara, a triangular or wedge-shaped piece of ground, and feld, 'field'. Surnames of this kind fixed a family to a specific parcel of land, and the shape mattered because it was how the parcel was identified.
How the name formed
- gara
- Garfield
Pronouncing Garfield
GAR-feeld
Two syllables, stress on the first. Both halves are said exactly as they look.
Nicknames for Garfield
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1880122 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #88reached in 1881
- Change vs 2015
- −37.5%5 in 2025, from 8
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.
Garfields among us
people named Garfield are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 341,615 born in 2025 was named Garfield
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Garfield 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
Garfield beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Garfield in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two plain English words, so the meaning is legible to anyone without explanation.
- It carries a real and specific moment of American history.
- Spelling and pronunciation raise no questions at all.
- The orange cartoon cat has owned this name in popular culture for decades, and for most people under sixty it is the only association.
- It is tied to a presidency remembered mainly for how it ended, which is a heavy thing for a name to carry.
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What they receive
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Garfield
Masculine · #12008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Garfields are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Garfield are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Garfield in 2025?
- Garfield ranks #12008 among US boy names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Garfield?
- About 1 in every 341,615 US boys born in 2025 was named Garfield — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Garfield with classmates?
- Garfield will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Garfield
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Chas#12008 · Lew#12008 · Barney#12008 · Dewitt#12008 · Granville#12008 · Cicero#12008 · Willam#12008 · Solon#12008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Garfield? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Garfield and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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