Gandalf

Boys' name

Possibly elf familiar

Gandalf has been given to 5 babies in the U.S. since 1970. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1970, with 5 recorded.

Babies named Gandalf, 1970

1 in 721,000

Gandalf over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Gandalf: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly elf familiar

Germanic languages and Old Norse

What Gandalf means

Gandalf may mean “elf familiar”, associated with Gandalfr.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Old Norse mythology Gandalfr (“elf familiar”). It may be reinforced by various similar names in Medieval Latin, like a few saints and clergymen.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Gandalf (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Gandalf is used in English and Swedish. Its origins include Germanic languages and Old Norse.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Gandalf is pronounced /ˈɡændɑlf/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 5 boys were recorded with the name Gandalf between 1970 and 1970. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1970; its best national rank was #4,972 in 1970.

How common is Gandalf?

Gandalf had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1970, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1970: 1 in 721,000; 5 of 3,606,302 births
Among boys only: 1 in 372,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1970: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 499,941 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Gandalf sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 1970 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 499,941 children born in 1970 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Gandalf. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Gandalfs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Gandalf was born before 1970 — so the typical Gandalf is around 55 today.

Median birth year: 1970; About 55 years old
Biggest decade: 1970s; 100.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 5; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1970s — 100.0% of all recorded uses (5).

Is Gandalf 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: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1970 (5)
Years since peak: 55; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Not enough data; Too few years
Best rank ever: #4,972; 1970

Spellings of Gandalf

Gandalf is not the most common spelling — Randall is, with 86.8% against Gandalf's <0.01%.

Randall86.8%198,592
Randal12.8%29,192
Randolf0.42%972
Gandalf<0.01%5

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Gandalf around the world

Where Gandalf 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.

France
1989–1989
#2,611
in 1989

Popularity data from Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Gandalf by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #4,972; 1970
Peak year: 1970; 5 that year
First recorded: 1970
Last recorded: 1970
All-time count: 5
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Gandalf

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

Gangelo Gandolfo Gannyn Thoralf Gantt Ganza Ganyn Gani Gannen Gannicus Gano Gant Ganesh Ganon Gannon Ralf Alf

Sibling names for Gandalf

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

For a sister

Nicolle Janeen Corinna Marlo Lashawn Shonda Jeana Jeanna

For a brother

Judd Douglass Alfonzo Edwardo Shon Brant Scot Darrick

Explore around Gandalf

Top names of 1970, Gandalf's peak year The 1970s in full Other names that peaked in 1970 Boys' names starting with G Middle-earth Names