Girls' name · peaked in 1951
Gail name popularity since 1925
205,782 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Gail (96.7% girls, 3.3% boys). Half of them were born in 1952 or earlier, so the typical Gail is about 74 years old in 2026. Gail peaked in 1951 as the #36 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 205,782
- Named Gail, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #8,535 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 96.7% girls
- 199,005 girls · 6,777 boys
- Most popular in
- Rhode Island
- 2.94× its national share
Peak year is the year Gail made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Gail births per year, 1925–2025
1951 was the biggest year for Gail both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1931 and 1936, Gail became 10× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 1972 and 1977, its share of baby girls fell by 61%, from 1 in 1,540 to 1 in 3,910.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Gail's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Gail.
Decade by decade
Babies named Gail in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 900 | 813 | – |
| 1930s | 15,854 | 1,867 | #127 |
| 1940s | 53,140 | 2,017 | #52 |
| 1950s | 85,618 | 1,307 | #42 |
| 1960s | 32,877 | 472 | #134 |
| 1970s | 7,138 | 236 | #370 |
| 1980s | 2,171 | 65 | #838 |
| 1990s | 752 | 0 | #2,400 |
| 2000s | 284 | 0 | #5,328 |
| 2010s | 169 | 0 | #7,753 |
| 2020–25 | 102 | 0 | #8,535 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
66.9% of babies named Gail from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Gail is most popular
The index compares Gail's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Gail.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Rhode Island | 2.94× | 2,116 |
| Massachusetts | 2.39× | 11,539 |
| Maine | 2.30× | 1,998 |
| Vermont | 2.21× | 750 |
| Connecticut | 2.20× | 4,856 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Gail's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Gail.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Gail (1951).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data