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Gareth

#2,775 in 2025Boys' name

Possibly old man

Gareth has been given to 4,394 babies in the U.S. since 1916. In 2025 it ranked #2,775 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2016, with 104 recorded.

Babies named Gareth, 2025

1 in 72,100

Gareth over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Gareth: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly old man

Welsh

What Gareth means

Gareth may mean “old man”, associated with Gerontius.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Of Old Welsh origin and cognate with the Welsh name Geraint (from Latin Gerontius (“old man”), from Ancient Greek γέρων (gérōn, “old man”)) or perhaps the word gwareddawg, gwaredd (“gentleness”); see gwâr (“gentle”).

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Gareth is used in English. Its origins include Welsh.

Gareth comes through Latin Gerontius and Ancient Greek γέρων.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Gareth is pronounced /ˈɡæɹ.əθ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,389 boys were recorded with the name Gareth between 1916 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 104 in 2016; its best national rank was #1,085 in 1970.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,669 in 2020 to #2,775 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,582 in 2015 to #2,775 in 2025.

In the United States, 5 girls were recorded with the name Gareth between 1956 and 1956. Its highest annual count was 5 in 1956; its best national rank was #6,268 in 1956.

How common is Gareth?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 72,100
46 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 37,100
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,775
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
49,955 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Gareth 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 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 49,955 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Gareth. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Gareths were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Gareth was born before 1992 — so the typical Gareth is around 33 today.

Median birth year
1992
About 33 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
16.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
36.2%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
3,743
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 16.4% of all recorded uses (720).

Is Gareth 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
−130
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−106
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,193
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.45×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
44.2%
Peak was 2016 (104)
Years since peak
9
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
16.2% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,085
1970

Spellings of Gareth

Gareth is not the most common spelling — Garrett is, with 71.5% against Gareth's 2.3%.

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.

Where Gareth is used

Across 2016–2025, Gareth was most concentrated in Texas — about 1 in 25,000 boys, against 1 in 37,403 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in 100,000).

14 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Texas1 in 25,000
  2. 2California1 in 33,333
  3. 3North Carolina1 in 33,333
  4. 4New York1 in 33,333
  5. 5Virginia1 in 33,333
  6. 6Maryland1 in 50,000
  7. 7Florida1 in 100,000
  8. 8Georgia1 in 100,000

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.

Gareth around the world

Where Gareth 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
    1996–2025
    #3,256
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1974–2023
    #728
    in 2023
  • Northern Ireland
    1997–2021
    #433
    in 2021
  • Ireland
    1964–2021
    #552
    in 2021
  • France
    1977–2025
    #5,425
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #2,550
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1946–2013
    #754
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Gareth

People whose public names include Gareth, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Gareth in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Gareth. Linked forms have their own page here.

Garth

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Gareth by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,775
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 106
Best rank ever
#1,085
1970
Peak year
2016
104 that year
First recorded
1916
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,389
Count in 2025
46

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#6,268
1956
Peak year
1956
5 that year
First recorded
1956
Last recorded
1956
All-time count
5
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Gareth

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

GarettGarrethGarnerGarnetGarrenGarnettGarrickGarretGardnerGarthGaroldGarfieldGarvinJarethGarenGarrisonGarionKenethGarlandGarronGaretGareyGarryJapheth

Names with a curve like Gareth

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Gareth, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

SalomonBaltazarAbelardoMarcellRobinsonCarlinFaustoTyrusCreightonRamseyPatricioRoque

Sibling names for Gareth

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 Gareth

Top names of 2016, Gareth's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1970Boys' names starting with GArthurian NamesWelsh Boy NamesWelsh Names