Gentry
Feminine · “of good birth”
Gentry is given to both — 2,777 girls and 4,287 boys since 1880. See Gentry as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Gentry is the landed class below the nobility, and the word descends from the Latin gens — a clan, a family, the people you belong to.
How old is the name Gentry?
Gentry first appears in US birth records in 1934 — 91 years ago. The typical Gentry is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,700 people named Gentry are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gentry most popular?
Gentry peaked in 2018, reaching #1451 nationally. Today it ranks #2017, 566 places below that high. See the whole 2018 chart.
Where it comes from
From gens to Gentry
The story of Gentry
Gentle originally meant well-born rather than mild, and the softening of the word is one of the better-documented shifts in English. The gentry were the landholders below the peerage and dominated English county life for centuries. Gentry entered American given-name use from the surname and appears in the registers for both sexes in current use.
Meaning
of good birth, well-born
From the Old French genterie and gentil, 'well-born', from the Latin gentilis and gens, 'clan' or 'family'. The same root gives gentle, genteel, gentile and genus. In English it named the class holding land without a title. The etymology is documented.
How the name formed
- gens
- gentil
- gentry
- Gentry
Related forms: Genterie · Gentrie
Pronouncing Gentry
JEN-tree
Two syllables, stress on the first. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Gentry
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
- 1934
- Most girls named
- 2018151 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1451reached in 2018
- Change vs 2024
- +28.8%94 in 2025, from 73
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.
Gentry in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Genterie in French — related form
- Gentrie in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri.
Gentrys among us
people named Gentry are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 17,099 born in 2025 was named Gentry
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 Tytiana test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Gentry's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Tytiana climbed just as high around 1999, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Tytiana's path sketches the road Gentry is walking now.
Gentry 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 Gentry is headed
Gentry is easing off slowly — about 22% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Gentry beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Gentry in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That gentle once meant well-born rather than mild is a first-rate word history.
- The same root gives gentile, genus and genteel, which is a rich family.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- It names a social class, which carries a particular flavor.
- It reads as a surname to most English speakers.
- It is used for both sexes in America.
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What they receive
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Gentry
Feminine · #2017 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Gentrys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,700 people named Gentry are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gentry in 2025?
- Gentry ranks #2017 among US girl names in 2025, with 94 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Gentry?
- About 1 in every 17,099 US girls born in 2025 was named Gentry — 94 in all.
- Will my child share the name Gentry with classmates?
- Gentry will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Gentry
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Naima#2017 · Diamond#2017 · Kylani#2017 · Bryn#2017 · Kamilah#2017 · Goldy#2017 · Alyna#2017 · Melodie#2017
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gentry? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Gentry 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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