boys' name ★ peaked 1962

Gregory

Meaning Gregorius Gender Boy Rank 2025 #593 Trend ↓ Falling 27%

The masculine first name Gregory or Grégory derives from the Latin name "Gregorius", which came from the late Greek name "Γρηγόριος" (Grēgórios) meaning "watchful…

Rank 2025
#593
among boys · ↓54 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
493
named Gregory · -11% vs 2024
How common
1 in 3,465
boys born in 2025
Peak year
1962
22,063 babies
All-time total
714,753
#48 all-time among boys
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Gregory popularity over time

714,753 babies have been named Gregory since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
3.757.511.251518801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s – 39 39 4 – #795
1890s – 92 92 9 +136% #579
1900s – 166 166 17 +80% #493
1910s – 1,093 1,093 109 +558% #448
1920s 5 2,193 2,198 220 +101% #357
1930s 16 3,769 3,785 379 +72% #205
1940s 93 43,222 43,315 4,332 +1044% #31
1950s 494 178,457 178,951 17,895 +313% #23
1960s 803 187,495 188,298 18,830 +5% #21
1970s 672 115,563 116,235 11,624 -38% #26
1980s 618 93,655 94,273 9,427 -19% #40
1990s 131 52,090 52,221 5,222 -45% #51
2000s 23 20,074 20,097 2,010 -62% #138
2010s 5 10,471 10,476 1,048 -48% #268
2020s (to 2025) – 3,514 3,514 586 -44% #435

Where Gregory is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 boys Implied rank
2026 468 0.27 outside top 500
2027 448 0.26 outside top 500
2028 432 0.25 outside top 500
2029 418 0.24 outside top 500
2030 407 0.24 outside top 500

Where Gregory is most popular

Boys named Gregory per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.327 per 1,000. Strongest in Connecticut, Mississippi, and Georgia.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Gregory born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Connecticut 50 0.739 +126%
Mississippi 35 0.616 +88%
Georgia 131 0.517 +58%
Alabama 56 0.512 +56%
Maryland 60 0.503 +54%
New Jersey 93 0.462 +41%
North Carolina 116 0.454 +39%
Ohio 120 0.453 +38%
Pennsylvania 118 0.444 +36%
Michigan 91 0.444 +36%
Virginia 83 0.437 +34%
Massachusetts 60 0.436 +33%
Louisiana 44 0.430 +31%
Tennessee 76 0.421 +29%
Illinois 104 0.407 +24%
Indiana 64 0.399 +22%
New York 168 0.388 +19%
South Carolina 40 0.387 +18%
Florida 181 0.382 +17%
Kentucky 35 0.349 +7%
Missouri 48 0.346 +6%
Wisconsin 40 0.338 ≈ national
California 304 0.333 ≈ national
Arkansas 21 0.332 ≈ national
Oregon 25 0.329 ≈ national
New Hampshire 7 0.315 ≈ national
Arizona 51 0.312 -5%
Minnesota 38 0.310 -5%
Colorado 37 0.287 -12%
Washington 46 0.281 -14%
Texas 227 0.258 -21%
Nevada 13 0.228 -30%
Kansas 14 0.204 -38%
Oklahoma 16 0.181 -45%
Iowa 10 0.145 -56%
Utah 5 0.052 -84%
Alaska – – –
District of Columbia – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
Idaho – – –
Maine – – –
Montana – – –
North Dakota – – –
Nebraska – – –
New Mexico – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Dakota – – –
Vermont – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Gregory

Gregory is uncommon for boys in the United States, ranked #593 in 2025 with 493 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 714,753 American babies have been named Gregory. Its peak came in 1962, when 22,063 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1960s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Gregory stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Gregory?

The median living Gregory is about 57 years old; half are between 43 and 66. An estimated 595 thousand people named Gregory are alive in the United States today.

median 57 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Gregory year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 – – 493 #593
2024 – – 554 #539
2023 – – 557 #530
2022 – – 616 #495
2021 – – 608 #486
2020 – – 686 #435
2019 – – 806 #388
2018 – – 787 #408
2017 – – 890 #374
2016 – – 926 #360
2015 – – 987 #346
2014 – – 1,110 #315
2013 – – 1,182 #296
2012 5 #17,798 1,231 #286
2011 – – 1,265 #279
2010 – – 1,287 #268
2009 – – 1,426 #247
2008 – – 1,559 #236
2007 5 #18,602 1,679 #223
2006 – – 1,833 #208
2005 – – 1,903 #202
2004 8 #12,005 1,968 #194
2003 – – 2,110 #185
2002 5 #16,343 2,279 #169
2001 – – 2,478 #157
2000 5 #15,898 2,839 #138
1995 12 #7,203 4,442 #84
1990 23 #4,284 8,378 #51
1985 71 #1,655 9,767 #45
1980 60 #1,815 9,267 #42
1975 78 #1,369 10,400 #33
1970 64 #1,533 16,286 #26
1965 78 #1,221 18,205 #23
1960 78 #1,240 20,304 #24
1955 62 #1,280 19,815 #24
1950 27 #1,847 13,311 #25
1945 11 #2,805 2,474 #96
1940 – – 756 #189
1935 – – 368 #282
1930 – – 248 #363
1925 – – 212 #409
1920 – – 179 #454
1915 – – 135 #477
1910 – – 25 #573
1905 – – 13 #682
1900 – – 12 #759
1895 – – 9 #760
1890 – – 12 #579
1885 – – 5 #999
1880 – – 5 #967

Famous people named Gregory

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Gregory Peck Gregory Peck American actor (1916–2003) Contemporary
  2. 2 Gregory Hines Gregory Hines American dancer, actor, and singer (1946–2003) Contemporary
  3. 3 Gregory Jarvis Gregory Jarvis American engineer and astronaut (1944–1986) Contemporary
  4. 4 Gregory of Nyssa Gregory of Nyssa 4th-century Christian bishop and theologian 335–395 · Antiquity
  5. 5 Gregory van der Wiel Gregory van der Wiel Dutch footballer (born 1988) Contemporary
  6. 6 Gregory David Roberts Australian writer and bank robber (born 1952) Contemporary
  7. 7 Gregory Itzin Gregory Itzin American actor (1948–2022) Contemporary
  8. 8 Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nazianzus Archbishop of Constantinople from 379 to 381 329–389 · Antiquity
  9. 9 Gregory Bateson Gregory Bateson British-American psychological anthropologist (1904–1980) Contemporary
  10. 10 Gregory the Illuminator Gregory the Illuminator Patron saint of the Armenian Apostolic Church (c.257–c.331) Antiquity
  11. 11 Gregory Palamas Gregory Palamas Byzantine Greek theologian (c. 1296 – 1357/9) Medieval
  12. 12 Gregory Isaacs Gregory Isaacs Jamaican reggae musician (1950–2010) 1951–2010 · Contemporary
  13. 13 Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours Historian and Bishop of Tours (c. 538–594) Medieval
  14. 14 Gregory Hoblit American film and television director (born 1944) Contemporary
  15. 15 Gregory Corso Gregory Corso American writer (1930–2001) Contemporary
  16. 16 Gregory of Narek Gregory of Narek Armenian monk and mystical poet (c. 950 – 1003/1011) 951–1003 · Medieval
  17. 17 Gregory Ratoff Gregory Ratoff Russian-American actor (1893–1960) 1897–1960 · 19th century
  18. 18 Gregory Thaumaturgus Gregory Thaumaturgus Greek bishop and saint (c. 213 – 270) Antiquity
  19. 19 Gregory Benford Gregory Benford American science fiction author and astrophysicist b. 1941 · Contemporary
  20. 20 Gregory V of Constantinople Gregory V of Constantinople Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople 1745–1821 · 18th century

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Gregory, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Gregory?

The median living Gregory is about 57 years old. Half of all living Gregorys are between 43 and 66 years old.

How many people named Gregory are alive today?

An estimated 595 thousand people named Gregory are alive in the United States, based on 714,753 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Gregory mean?

The masculine first name Gregory or Grégory derives from the Latin name "Gregorius", which came from the late Greek name "Γρηγόριος" (Grēgórios) meaning "watchful, alert".

How popular is the name Gregory in 2025?

Gregory ranked #593 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 493 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Gregory?

714,753 babies have been named Gregory in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Gregory most popular?

Gregory peaked in 1962, when 22,063 newborns received the name.

Is Gregory a boy or girl name?

Gregory is overwhelmingly a boy's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Gregory rising or falling?

Gregory is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Gregory become more popular?

Gregory is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 407 boys named Gregory in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Gregory?

Well-known people named Gregory include Gregory Peck (actor), Gregory Hines (actor), Gregory Jarvis (astronaut).

Names like Gregory

Names that sound and feel close to Gregory: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Gregory with similar names → More names starting with G →