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Gal

#9,670 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Gal has been given to 403 babies in the U.S. since 1947. In 2025 it ranked #9,670 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2022, with 16 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 63% girls, 37% boys all-time.

Babies named Gal, 2025

1 in 332,000

Gal over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
0510152018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Gal over time

In 2025, Gal went to 67% girls and 33% boys.

19472025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Gal: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Gal means

Gal has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Gal

One of the source’s documented entries for Gal records a meaning of wave.

A separate documented entry treats Gal as a form of Gallus. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

Origin, language, and formation

Gal is used in Portuguese and Slovene.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Portuguese, Gal is pronounced /ˈɡaw/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 255 girls were recorded with the name Gal between 1947 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 16 in 2022; its best national rank was #3,804 in 1951.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #7,686 in 2020 to #9,670 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #15,131 in 2015 to #9,670 in 2025.

In the United States, 148 boys were recorded with the name Gal between 1984 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 14 in 1996; its best national rank was #4,455 in 1996.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Gal?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 332,000
10 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 161,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#9,670
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
229,791 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Gal sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 229,791 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Gal. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Gals were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Gal was born before 2001 — so the typical Gal is around 24 today.

Median birth year
2001
About 24 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
28.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
50.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
245
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 28.6% of all recorded uses (73).

Is Gal rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+1,771
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,984
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+5,461
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.67×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
62.5%
Peak was 2022 (16)
Years since peak
3
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
35.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#3,804
1951

Where Gal is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Gal was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 1,901,278 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Gal has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Gal is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Gal was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 2,050,436 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Gal has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Gal around the world

Where Gal ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2007–2007
    #3,589
    in 2007

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics. ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0.

Gal by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#9,670
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,984
Best rank ever
#3,804
1951
Peak year
2022
16 that year
First recorded
1947
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
255
Count in 2025
10

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#12,644
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#4,455
1996
Peak year
1996
14 that year
First recorded
1984
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
148
Count in 2025
5

Names similar to Gal

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

GaliGalitGaliaGalenaGalinaGalaxySagalGalaGalenGalileahGalyaGalileeGalynGaladrielGalaxiGaleneGaleaGalianaAbigalAbbigalGalyleaGalaxieSigalGalisa

Sibling names for Gal

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Gal

Top names of 2022, Gal's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1951Girls' names starting with GSlovenian Boy Names