boy's name
Gaëtan
ga-eh-TAHN
- Origin French
- Gender Boy
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (France)
- Births on record 54,390
France
#723
2025 births
Gaëtan names an Italian coastal town, and it reaches French through a saint rather than through Italy — Cajetan of Thiene founded an order in the sixteenth century, and the name followed the order into France.
- Gaëtan is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1990, when 1,915 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 10,718 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1900.
Gaëtan over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 690 |
| 1910s | 790 |
| 1920s | 1,090 |
| 1930s | 895 |
| 1940s | 785 |
| 1950s | 1,395 |
| 1960s | 2,095 |
| 1970s | 5,655 |
| 1980s | 12,620 |
| 1990s | 15,825 |
| 2000s | 8,065 |
| 2010s | 3,710 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 555 |
What Gaëtan means
Gaëtan means a man from Gaeta, a coastal town in southern Italy. It is a regional byname, so it records origin and says nothing about the person.
Where Gaëtan comes from
Gaëtan is the French form of the Italian Gaetano, from Caietanus — of Gaeta, a port between Rome and Naples. The town's own name is old and unexplained; Virgil derives it from Aeneas's nurse Caieta, which is the kind of story Roman writers supplied for place names they could not otherwise account for. Saint Cajetan founded the Theatines in 1524, and the name spread through the order rather than through migration.
Gaëtan in use
Gaëtan peaked in France in 1990, when 1,915 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 723rd in France on 60 births, across 54,390 lifetime births. Our records hold no births for it in any other market, so this is a French name in the strictest sense we can measure.
How popular is Gaëtan?
In 2025, Gaëtan was given to 55 babies in France, ranking #723 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Gaëtan is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Gaëtan is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Gaetan | Gaetan is a spelling of Gaëtan, used in Canada, where it ranks #2,732. | 1,030 |
| Gaétan | Gaétan is a rare spelling of Gaëtan, written with an acute accent and recorded about 655 times, mostly in France. | 655 |
Names that peaked alongside Gaëtan
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Gaëtan also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Gaëtan over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Gaëtan in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Gaëtan
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Gaëtan — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Gaëtan
What does the name Gaëtan mean?
A man from Gaeta, a port between Rome and Naples.
What does Gaeta mean?
Unexplained. Virgil's derivation from Aeneas's nurse is a story supplied after the fact.
How did it reach France?
Through Saint Cajetan, who founded the Theatine order in 1524.
Where is Gaëtan used?
France only. We hold no births for it in any other market.
Is Gaëtan a girl's or a boy's name?
Gaëtan is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
When was Gaëtan most popular?
Gaëtan peaked in 1990, when 1,915 babies were given the name. It has been falling over the past decade.
Is Gaëtan a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Gaëtan currently ranks #723 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.