# Gael (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/gael/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | Irish |
| Meaning | “irishman”, “wild man”, “warrior”, “savage”, “woodsman”, “wild”, “wood”, “wilderness” |
| Pronunciation | /ɡeɪ̯l/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 49,752 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 49,079 / 673 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 279, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Irish Gael, alt. Gaol, from earlier Gaoidheal, cognate with Scottish Gaelic Gàidheal and Manx Gael, from Middle Irish Gaídel, from Old Irish Goídel (“Irishman”), a loanword from Old Welsh Guoidel (“wild man, warrior”) (also recorded as a personal name in the Book of Llandaff), from Proto-Brythonic *Guɨðel (“savage, woodsman”), from Proto-Celtic *weidelos (“savage, woodsman”), related to *weidus (“wild”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weydʰh₁- (“wood, wilderness”) (cf. Old English wāþ (“hunt”)). Doublet of Goidel. False cognate of English Gaul, Gallia. Medieval Irish traditions, including the Lebor Gabála Érenn, trace the origin of the Goídels to an eponymous ancestor, Goídel Glas, but this is no longer held to be the ultimate etymology of the word.

## What it means

Gael is grouped under forest and warrior.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 5 | 17,678 |
| 2012 | 9 | 11,591 |
| 2013 | 14 | 8,284 |
| 2014 | 6 | 15,238 |
| 2015 | 7 | 13,480 |
| 2016 | 8 | 12,146 |
| 2017 | 6 | 14,727 |
| 2018 | 7 | 12,924 |
| 2019 | 8 | 11,721 |
| 2020 | 9 | 10,547 |
| 2021 | 9 | 10,566 |
| 2022 | 13 | 8,204 |
| 2023 | 11 | 9,196 |
| 2024 | 7 | 12,613 |
| 2025 | 6 | 13,778 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 690 | 410 |
| 2012 | 2,745 | 146 |
| 2013 | 2,307 | 177 |
| 2014 | 1,809 | 213 |
| 2015 | 1,783 | 220 |
| 2016 | 2,248 | 178 |
| 2017 | 2,239 | 178 |
| 2018 | 2,931 | 132 |
| 2019 | 2,900 | 133 |
| 2020 | 3,262 | 112 |
| 2021 | 3,513 | 109 |
| 2022 | 3,509 | 104 |
| 2023 | 3,629 | 100 |
| 2024 | 3,872 | 89 |
| 2025 | 3,860 | 86 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 5 | 3,332 |
| 2012 | 7 | 2,721 |
| 2013 | 11 | 1,920 |
| 2014 | 7 | 2,690 |
| 2015 | 12 | 1,902 |
| 2016 | 17 | 1,498 |
| 2017 | 18 | 1,398 |
| 2018 | 16 | 1,533 |
| 2019 | 18 | 1,369 |
| 2020 | 25 | 1,085 |
| 2021 | 17 | 1,448 |
| 2022 | 29 | 1,011 |
| 2023 | 29 | 1,018 |
| 2024 | 23 | 1,199 |
| 2025 | 18 | 1,466 |

## People named Gael

- Gaël Clichy, French footballer and manager (born 1985)
- Gaël Monfils, French tennis player (born 1986)
- Gaël Kakuta, French-Congolese footballer (born 1991)
- Gaël Givet, French footballer (born 1981)
- Gaël Bigirimana, Burundian footballer
- Gaël Faye, Burundi-Rwandan-French singer and writer (born 1982)
- Gaël Ondoua, Cameroonian association football player
- Gaël Touya, fencer
- Gaël Danic, French footballer
- Maxime-Gaël Ngayap Hambou, French judoka
- Gaël Morel, French actor and director
- Gael Martin, Australian shot putter, discus thrower and powerlifter

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.