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Garner

#5,945 in 2025Boys' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Garner has been given to 2,338 babies in the U.S. since 1881. In 2025 it ranked #5,945 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1932, with 82 recorded.

Babies named Garner, 2025

1 in 221,000

Garner over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Garner: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Garner means

Garner is a given name.

The naming story behind Garner

Wikidata records Garner as a male given name. The entity identifier is Q111420751, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,279 boys were recorded with the name Garner between 1881 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 82 in 1932; its best national rank was #675 in 1932.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #5,531 in 2020 to #5,945 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #4,440 in 2015 to #5,945 in 2025.

In the United States, 59 girls were recorded with the name Garner between 2010 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 7 in 2014; its best national rank was #12,901 in 2019.

Over 10 years its rank rose, from #17,358 in 2015 to #15,689 in 2025.

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.

How common is Garner?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 221,000
15 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 114,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#5,945
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
153,194 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Garner 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 153,194 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Garner. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Garners were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Garner was born before 1958 — so the typical Garner is around 67 today.

Median birth year
1958
About 67 years old
Biggest decade
1930s
14.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
24.1%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,275
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1930s — 14.0% of all recorded uses (320).

Is Garner 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
−647
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−414
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,505
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.68×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
18.3%
Peak was 1932 (82)
Years since peak
93
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
40.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#675
1932

Spellings of Garner

Garner is not the most common spelling — Carter is, with 35.0% against Garner's 0.39%.

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 Garner is used

Across 1910–2025, Garner was most concentrated in Kentucky — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 148,710 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Kentucky1 in 100,000
  2. 2Tennessee1 in 100,000
  3. 3Texas1 in 100,000
  4. 4Mississippi1 in —
  5. 5Oklahoma1 in —
  6. 6Virginia1 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. Garner has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Garner around the world

Where Garner 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.

  • Canada
    2006–2006
    #2,152
    in 2006
  • South Australia
    1967–1967
    #552
    in 1967

Popularity data from Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Garner

People whose public names include Garner, 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.

Garner by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#5,945
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 414
Best rank ever
#675
1932
Peak year
1932
82 that year
First recorded
1881
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,279
Count in 2025
15

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#15,689
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#12,901
2019
Peak year
2014
7 that year
First recorded
2010
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
59
Count in 2025
5

Names similar to Garner

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

GardnerGarnetGarrenGarethGarettGarnettGarvinSumnerGarenGardinerGaroldGarionGarrickWernerGarretRainerKonnerGarthGarronBannerGarfieldGaretGareyWarner

Names with a curve like Garner

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

GennaroLawtonEstonFentonFarrisJohnyJoyGarvinSandersDonatoRexfordAnastacio

Sibling names for Garner

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 Garner

Top names of 1932, Garner's peak yearThe 1930s in fullOther names that peaked in 1932Boys' names starting with G