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 Faye, May, and Rae.
As of October 2026, Gay ranked #9597 in US births in 1982 SSA, peaked at #315 in 1943.
Editor's take: The name Gay is a girl's name of French origin meaning "joyful".
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.
- Gayelette
- Mano
- Shaquille
- Rafiki
- Yoshiko
- Rolanda
- Ethyl
- Santa
- Lord
- Toya
- Brunella
- Raj
- Joleen
- Kolos
- O'Keeffe
- Shaun
- Trinidad
- Salvio
- Gerrard
- Tu
Gay on lists
Famous Gays
- Gay Hamilton
Scottish actress
- Gay Kayler
Australian country music singer
- Gay Seabrook (born Gladys Johnson)
American actress
- Gabriel "Gay" Woods
Irish singer of band Steeleye Span
- Gay Kristine Jacobsen D'Asaro
American fencer
- Gay Search
English TV presenter
- Gay McDougall
American human rights activist
- Mary Gabrielle "Gay" Thompson
Australian politician
- Gay Vernon
American radio personality in Boston
- Marcia Gay Harden
American actress
- Imogen Gay Poots
English actress
Gay in pop culture
- "Gay" Van Buren
nickname for character Shay Van Buren of YouTube show "The Most Popular Girls in School"
- Gay
the main character in Zelda Fitzgerald's short story "The original follies girl"