Gary

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled גרי in IL Israel.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Gary is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name506K records spelled Gary22 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, Colombia, Peru

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, Italian

  Also written Garie, Gäry, Gàry, Gãry, Gåry

• French given name126K records spelled Gary11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Garie, Garié, Gårÿ, Gãrie, Gãry

• Russian given name48K records spelled Gary138 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, United States, Poland, Czechia

  Languages: Russian, Polish, Czech

  Also written Гарри, Harry, Гарий, Гаррий, Гаррі

• Indonesian given name20K records spelled Gary5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Indonesia, Malaysia, United Kingdom

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written Garie, Ğãřý

• Greek given name20K records spelled Gary4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Γκαρι, Gkari, Γαρυ

• Thai given name12K records spelled Gary22 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Thailand, United States, United Kingdom, Laos

  Languages: Thai, Lao

  Also written Garry, แกรี่, แกร, แกรี, แกร์

69 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Gary is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In French, Modern English name, often from a Germanic surname root meaning ‘spear’.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In English, Perhaps a form of Gerald; used in Ireland and popularised by actor Gary Cooper.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In French, English name, likely from Gary/Gérard; modern given name.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• This is perhaps a form of Gerald. It has been used from time to time in Ireland. In the 1930s the American film actor, Gary Cooper, made the name a popular one.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, Respelling of Swiss German Gehri or Gehry, variants of Gehr.

  as a name·Dictionary of American Family Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 144 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Gary Cooperb. 1901USAmerican actor (1901–1961)
• Gary Stanley Beckerb. 1930USAmerican economist (1930-2014)
• Steve Wozniakb. 1950USnot in their usual nameAmerican computer pioneer, inventor, computer engineer and programmer; co-founder of Apple Inc.
• Gary Mooreb. 1952GBNorthern Irish musician (1952–2011)
• Gary Siniseb. 1955USAmerican actor
• Gary Oldmanb. 1958GBBritish actor and filmmaker (born 1958)
• Gary Petersb. 1958USAmerican politician and naval officer (born 1958)
• Gary Linekerb. 1960GBEnglish football pundit and former player
• Gary Trousdaleb. 1960USAmerican director and actor
• Gary Nevilleb. 1975GBEnglish football pundit and former playe

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,199 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Gary?

We estimate roughly 676 thousand people bear Gary (counting its spellings and scripts) across 9 countries in our records.

In which country does Gary have the most bearers?

We estimate about 656 thousand people bear Gary in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled gary.

How common is Gary compared with other names?

In the United States, Gary is the 54th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Gary a male or female name?

Gary is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Gary mean?

Recorded meaning: Either a different form of Geary or a shortened form of McGary.