boy's name
Gage
GAYJ
- Origin French
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 1
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 64,841
the United States
#975
2025 births
Gage means a pledge, and it names the object rather than the person — the thing handed over as security. Giselle in this same group names the pledge when the pledge was a human being.
- Gage is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in 2003, when 2,950 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 14,108 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1914.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Gage over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 12 |
| 1920s | 23 |
| 1930s | 10 |
| 1940s | 11 |
| 1950s | 29 |
| 1960s | 29 |
| 1970s | 177 |
| 1980s | 498 |
| 1990s | 13,278 |
| 2000s | 27,530 |
| 2010s | 16,996 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,462 |
What Gage means
Gage means a pledge or pawn — the item deposited as security for an obligation. It names the thing given, not the person giving it or the promise itself.
Where Gage comes from
Gage is the Norman French gage, a pledge or security, from a Frankish root that also gives wage and engage — a wage is what you are pledged, and to engage is to bind yourself. Throwing down the gauntlet is literally offering a gage of battle: the glove was the physical token that the challenge was binding. As a given name it is almost entirely American and modern, helped by its use as a surname.
Gage in use
Gage peaked in the United States in 2003, when 2,950 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 975th in the United States on 235 births, across 64,841 lifetime births. Our records carry it from 1914, though almost all of the volume falls after 1990.
How popular is Gage?
In 2025, Gage was given to 235 babies in the United States, ranking #975 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Gage is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Gage
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Gage also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Gage over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Gage 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 Gage
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Gage — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Gage
What does the name Gage mean?
A pledge — the object handed over as security, from the Norman French gage.
Is wage related?
Yes, and so is engage. A wage is what you are pledged; to engage is to bind yourself.
What is throwing down the gauntlet?
Offering a gage of battle. The glove was the physical token making the challenge binding.
How popular is Gage?
975th in the United States, down from a 2003 peak of 2,950 births.
Is Gage a girl's or a boy's name?
Gage is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Gage?
Gage has 1 syllable.
Is Gage a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Gage currently ranks #975 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.