girl's name
Gail
GAYL
- Origin Hebrew
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 1
- Letters 4
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 212,829
Ireland
#785
2004 births
Gail is a girl's name meaning my father rejoices, clipped from Abigail. It belongs to the mid-century American cohort that fell hardest — from 10,066 births in 1951 to 12 — and unlike Peggy it did not survive anywhere else.
- Gail is a name of Hebrew origin.
- Peaked in 1951, when 10,066 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 276,319 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1881.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Gail over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 127 |
| 1890s | 375 |
| 1900s | 414 |
| 1910s | 2,251 |
| 1920s | 3,462 |
| 1930s | 17,721 |
| 1940s | 55,157 |
| 1950s | 86,925 |
| 1960s | 33,349 |
| 1970s | 7,374 |
| 1980s | 2,236 |
| 1990s | 752 |
| 2000s | 284 |
| 2010s | 169 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 102 |
What Gail means
Gail means my father rejoices, carried from Abigail. The Hebrew is a statement about a parent's response to a birth rather than a description of the child, which is common in names of that period.
Where Gail comes from
Gail is clipped from Abigail, the Hebrew Avigayil — avi, my father, joined to a root meaning rejoice or exult. Abigail appears in the Book of Samuel as the wife of Nabal and then of David, and is one of the few women in the Hebrew Bible credited with talking a king out of a massacre. The clipped Gail is twentieth-century American, and it takes the end of the name rather than the beginning, the same move as Sandra from Alessandra and Rita from Margarita.
Gail in use
Gail peaked in the United States in 1951, when 10,066 babies were registered, and now charts in exactly one of the six markets we track, at 8620th in the United States on 12 births. That is a fall by a factor of roughly 839, among the eight steepest in our data — a group that also holds Debra, Cathy, Peggy, Debbie, Cheryl, Rhonda and Tammy, all mid-century American girls' names. Of those eight only Peggy survived abroad; Gail, like the rest, went everywhere at once and then nowhere.
How popular is Gail?
In 2025, Gail was given to 12 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.
Where Gail 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 Gail
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Gail also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Gail over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Gail 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.
- Dutch
- Abigail
Sibling names for Gail
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Gail — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Gail
What does the name Gail mean?
My father rejoices, carried from Abigail.
Is Gail short for Abigail?
Yes, taking the end of the name rather than the beginning — the same move as Sandra from Alessandra.
Why did Gail decline so sharply?
It fell from 10,066 births in 1951 to 12 — a factor of 839, among the eight steepest falls in our data.
How popular is Gail?
8620th in the United States, and it charts in no other market.
Is Gail a girl's or a boy's name?
Gail is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Gail?
Gail has 1 syllable.
Is Gail a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Gail currently ranks #8,620 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.