# Gail (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/gail/  
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 | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /ɡeɪl/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Gayle |
| US babies named this | 210,698 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 8,952 / 201,746 (96% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 39, 1996 to 2025 |

## 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 | 14 | 8,341 |
| 2012 | 22 | 5,976 |
| 2013 | 24 | 5,543 |
| 2014 | 13 | 8,635 |
| 2015 | 15 | 7,753 |
| 2016 | 20 | 6,259 |
| 2017 | 13 | 8,454 |
| 2018 | 18 | 6,621 |
| 2019 | 15 | 7,480 |
| 2020 | 19 | 6,158 |
| 2021 | 20 | 6,025 |
| 2022 | 13 | 8,206 |
| 2023 | 21 | 5,818 |
| 2024 | 17 | 6,743 |
| 2025 | 12 | 8,535 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 25 | 1,852 |
| 1975 | 26 | 1,852 |
| 1976 | 20 | 2,269 |
| 1977 | 14 | 2,958 |
| 1978 | 11 | 3,479 |
| 1979 | 13 | 3,227 |
| 1980 | 6 | 5,767 |
| 1981 | 17 | 2,710 |
| 1982 | 6 | 5,891 |
| 1983 | 6 | 5,718 |
| 1984 | 5 | 6,657 |
| 1986 | 5 | 7,088 |
| 1987 | 8 | 5,120 |
| 1988 | 6 | 6,695 |
| 1989 | 6 | 7,296 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 5 | 2,683 |
| 1997 | 8 | 1,958 |
| 1998 | 4 | 3,142 |
| 1999 | 5 | 2,770 |
| 2000 | 3 | 3,912 |
| 2002 | 3 | 4,137 |
| 2004 | 3 | 4,598 |
| 2007 | 5 | 3,667 |
| 2008 | 3 | 5,545 |

## People named Gail

- Gail Devers, American athletics competitor, sprinter, hurdler
- Gail Kim, Canadian professional wrestler, model and actress
- Gail O'Grady, American actress (born 1963)
- Gail Russell, actress (1924-1961)
- Gail Patrick, American actress and television producer
- Gail Fisher, American actress (1935-2000)
- Gail Goodrich, American basketball player
- Gail Ann Dorsey, American singer and bassist
- Gail Dines, anti-pornography campaigner
- Gail Chanfreau, Australian-French tennis player
- Gail Emms, badminton player
- Gail Simone, American comic book writer

## 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.