Girls' name · peaked in 1951
Gayle name popularity since 1925
64,210 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Gayle (93.4% girls, 6.6% boys). Half of them were born in 1952 or earlier, so the typical Gayle is about 74 years old in 2026. Gayle peaked in 1951 as the #124 name for girls, and fewer than 5 girls got it in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 64,210
- Named Gayle, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Unranked
- Fewer than 5 girls named Gayle in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 93.4% girls
- 59,946 girls · 4,264 boys
- Most popular in
- Hawaii
- 2.58× its national share
Peak year is the year Gayle 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.
Gayle births per year, 1925–2025
1951 was the biggest year for Gayle both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1930 and 1935, Gayle became 5.4× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 1970 and 1975, its share of baby girls fell by 59%, from 1 in 3,270 to 1 in 7,920.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Gayle's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Gayle.
Decade by decade
Babies named Gayle 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 | 521 | 399 | – |
| 1930s | 5,034 | 1,340 | #237 |
| 1940s | 16,198 | 1,285 | #156 |
| 1950s | 23,727 | 790 | #146 |
| 1960s | 10,117 | 287 | #281 |
| 1970s | 2,707 | 119 | #771 |
| 1980s | 1,056 | 44 | #1,351 |
| 1990s | 369 | 0 | #3,615 |
| 2000s | 130 | 0 | #11,205 |
| 2010s | 57 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 2020–25 | 30 | 0 | 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
62.9% of babies named Gayle from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Gayle is most popular
The index compares Gayle'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 Gayle.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | 2.58× | 485 |
| Montana | 2.55× | 449 |
| North Dakota | 2.47× | 469 |
| Nebraska | 2.15× | 907 |
| Minnesota | 2.13× | 2,336 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Gayle's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Gayle.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Gayle (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