Gay
About Gay
The meaning of this word flipped from "cheerful" to "homosexual" during the twentieth century, and it's now almost certainly too loaded to sit comfortably as a baby name. Which is a shame as sound-wise it's very appealing, just a short step away from Gray, Gale and Guy.
Pronounced GAY.
As of October 2026, Gay ranked #4850 in US births in 1974 SSA, peaked at #773 in 1890.
Editor: Pamela Redmond
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | — | 0 | 0 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Gay.
Gay on lists
Famous Gays
- Gay Talese
American journalist
- Gay Hendricks
American self,help author
- Gay Robert Brewer
Jr., American golfer
- Gaylord Damian "Gay" Bryan
American track athlete
- Gabriel Mary "Gay" Byrne
Irish TV presenter
- Gabriel Alexander "Gay" Mitchell
Irish MEP
- Gay Kindersley
British jockey and trainer
Gay in pop culture
- Gay Langland
Clark Gable's character in The Misfits (1961)
- Gaylord "Gay" Focker
character in Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers (commonly referred to as "Greg")