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Garnet

#11,259 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Garnet has been given to 8,923 babies in the U.S. since 1884. In 2025 it ranked #11,259 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1918, with 258 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 77% girls, 23% boys all-time.

Babies named Garnet, 2025

1 in 414,000

Garnet over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2025, Garnet went to 57% girls and 43% boys.

18822025

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.

Garnet: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

French

What Garnet means

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

The naming story behind Garnet

Garnet is documented as an English vocabulary word adopted as a personal name. Its immediate reference is the word garnet; the cited entry discusses the word history separately from its use as a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Garnet is used in English. Its origins include French.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,913 girls were recorded with the name Garnet between 1884 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 258 in 1918; its best national rank was #378 in 1911.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #10,546 in 2020 to #11,259 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #13,476 in 2015 to #11,259 in 2025.

In the United States, 2,010 boys were recorded with the name Garnet between 1882 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 55 in 1919; its best national rank was #594 in 1904.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #12,686 in 2020 to #11,115 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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Garnet?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 414,000
8 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 201,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#11,259
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
287,238 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Garnet 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 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Garnet. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Garnets were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Garnet was born before 1924 — so the typical Garnet is around 101 today.

Median birth year
1924
About 101 years old
Biggest decade
1910s
24.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
2.5%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
1,082
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1910s — 24.6% of all recorded uses (1,701).

Is Garnet 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
+4,839
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−713
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+2,217
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.14×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
3.1%
Peak was 1918 (258)
Years since peak
107
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
47.1% average annual change
Best rank ever
#378
1911

Spellings of Garnet

Garnet is not the most common spelling — Janet is, with 96.3% against Garnet's 1.2%.

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 Garnet is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Garnet was most concentrated in West Virginia — about 1 in 1,724 girls, against 1 in 20,450 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

058 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1West Virginia1 in 1,724
  2. 2Ohio1 in 6,667
  3. 3Kentucky1 in 7,692
  4. 4Indiana1 in 11,111
  5. 5Iowa1 in 16,667
  6. 6Pennsylvania1 in 16,667
  7. 7Nebraska1 in 33,333
  8. 8Illinois1 in 50,000

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. Garnet has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Garnet is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Garnet was most concentrated in Virginia — about 1 in 33,333 boys, against 1 in 139,589 across all states with data. It was least common in Ohio (1 in —).

03 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Virginia1 in 33,333
  2. 2West Virginia1 in 33,333
  3. 3Kentucky1 in 100,000
  4. 4Michigan1 in 100,000
  5. 5Pennsylvania1 in 100,000
  6. 6Georgia1 in —
  7. 7Indiana1 in —
  8. 8Missouri1 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. Garnet has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Garnet around the world

Where Garnet 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.

  • South Australia
    1980–1980
    #634
    in 1980

Popularity data from Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Garnet by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#11,259
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 713
Best rank ever
#378
1911
Peak year
1918
258 that year
First recorded
1884
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,913
Count in 2025
8

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#11,115
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,571
Best rank ever
#594
1904
Peak year
1919
55 that year
First recorded
1882
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,010
Count in 2025
6

Names similar to Garnet

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

MonetGarnettYanetGardeniaGaryJannetGarlandSonnetGargiGarrettGarnetteCennetGarnerGarnettaGariBemnetGarimaAmunetGarryBennetEmnetGaraGarrieJeanet

Names with a curve like Garnet

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

RubyeMaurineAdellVerdaIdellaElnaIolaVergieMyrtisAldaHortenseElda

Sibling names for Garnet

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 Garnet

Top names of 1918, Garnet's peak yearThe 1910s in fullOther names that peaked in 1911Girls' names starting with GAutumn NamesGemstone Names