Gordon
Masculine · “from Gordon in Berwickshire”
Gordon is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 154,909 boys against 670 girls since 1880. See Gordon as a girl name
Gordon has been through the full sequence: a place in Berwickshire, a family that took its name, a clan, a surname, and finally a first name that American families have used since records began. One story attached to the family is almost certainly embroidered and has never been dislodged.
How old is the name Gordon?
Gordon was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Gordon alive today was born around 1942, making them about 83 years old. About 68,500 people named Gordon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gordon most popular?
Gordon peaked in 1935, reaching #70 nationally. Today it ranks #1051, 981 places below that high. See the whole 1935 chart.
Where it comes from
From Gordon to Gordon
The story of Gordon
When the Gordon Highlanders were raised in seventeen ninety-four, the Duchess of Gordon is said to have gone round the fairs and markets of the north-east with a piper, wearing a regimental jacket, and to have offered the king's shilling from between her lips to any man who would enlist for it. The story is in every regimental history and was repeated for two centuries. It is almost certainly at least partly invented: recruitment records show the usual bounties and the usual pressures, and the duchess was one of several people working the same ground. But it did what recruiting stories do — it made a transaction look like a romance, and it got told at every mess dinner for two hundred years. The regiment itself was amalgamated out of existence in nineteen ninety-four.
Meaning
from Gordon in Berwickshire
A Scottish place name of uncertain derivation — a Brittonic compound about a spacious fort has been proposed and is not secure. What is documented is the sequence: place, then family, then clan, then surname, then given name.
How the name formed
- Gordon
- Gordoun
Pronouncing Gordon
GOR-dun
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The second syllable reduces almost to nothing, which is standard for an English place-name ending.
Nicknames for Gordon
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
- 19512,759 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #70reached in 1935
- Change vs 2022
- −10.3%209 in 2025, from 233
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.
Gordon in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, New York, Michigan.
Gordons among us
people named Gordon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 8,173 born in 2025 was named Gordon
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 Jessie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Gordon's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jessie climbed just as high around 1900, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jessie's path sketches the road Gordon is walking now.
Gordon 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 Gordon is headed
Gordon should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Gordon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Gordon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two syllables with front stress is the plainest shape English has.
- Don detaches as a short form and needs no explanation anywhere.
- It names a real place with a documented line of descent.
- It reads as distinctly Scottish, which suits some families and not others.
- Gorden and Gordan are both recorded and will be written for it.
- It is recorded for daughters too, though very rarely.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Gordon 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 Gordon? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Gordon
Masculine · #1051 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Gordons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 68,500 people named Gordon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gordon in 2025?
- Gordon ranks #1051 among US boy names in 2025, with 209 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Gordon?
- About 1 in every 8,173 US boys born in 2025 was named Gordon — 209 in all.
- Will my child share the name Gordon with classmates?
- Gordon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Gordon
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Krishiv#1051 · Cedric#1051 · Slade#1054 · Marcellus#1054 · Dash#1056 · True#1046 · Rishi#1056 · Shlomo#1046
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gordon? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Gordon 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