Mostly girls · peaked in 1957
Gale name popularity since 1925
29,879 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Gale (65.4% girls, 34.6% boys). Half of them were born in 1952 or earlier, so the typical Gale is about 74 years old in 2026. Gale peaked in 1957 as the #244 name for girls, and fewer than 5 girls got it in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 29,879
- Named Gale, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Unranked
- Fewer than 5 girls named Gale in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 65.4% girls
- 19,527 girls · 10,352 boys
- Most popular in
- Nebraska
- 2.59× its national share
Peak year is the year Gale 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.
Gale births per year, 1925–2025
1957 was the biggest year for Gale both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1935 and 1940, Gale became 2.9× more common, from 1 in 8,590 baby girls to 1 in 2,940.
- Steepest fall: Between 1957 and 1962, its share of baby girls fell by 72%, from 1 in 1,690 to 1 in 5,980.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Gale's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Gale.
Decade by decade
Babies named Gale 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 | 170 | 972 | – |
| 1930s | 1,040 | 2,428 | #587 |
| 1940s | 4,900 | 3,109 | #321 |
| 1950s | 9,479 | 2,295 | #260 |
| 1960s | 2,997 | 837 | #640 |
| 1970s | 650 | 361 | #1,692 |
| 1980s | 191 | 134 | #3,894 |
| 1990s | 58 | 61 | #10,897 |
| 2000s | 13 | 37 | #12,208 |
| 2010s | 24 | 64 | Under 5 |
| 2020–25 | 5 | 54 | Under 5 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
60.9% of babies named Gale from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Gale is most popular
The index compares Gale'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 Gale.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Nebraska | 2.59× | 455 |
| Kansas | 2.00× | 512 |
| Michigan | 1.81× | 1,734 |
| Iowa | 1.75× | 557 |
| Wisconsin | 1.75× | 865 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Gale's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Gale.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Gale (1957).
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