Gaby
A feminine variant of Gabriel, meaning "God is my strength".
Name Census estimates that about 1,377 living Americans carry the first name Gaby. It is a predominantly female name (98.2% of registrations). The average person named Gaby today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gaby births was 2007 (70 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gaby. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Gaby with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 248,914 Americans
Peak year
2007
70 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2006 SSA rank
#3,836
Tracked since 1920
Census
Gaby in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,645 people with the first name Gaby, which placed it at #4,135 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,135
National first-name rank
People counted
4.6K
4,645 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
72.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gaby
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gaby is Hispanic at 72.9%. The next largest groups are White (19.7%) and Black (3.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Gaby described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Gaby at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino72.9% · 3,387
- White19.7% · 913
- Black or African American3.6% · 168
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 101
- Two or more races1.4% · 65
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Gaby
Gaby leans heavily female at 98.2% of total registrations, but 26 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Gaby as a male name
- Ranked #12,666 in 2006
- 5 male births in 2006
- Peak: 1991 (6 births)
Gaby as a female name
- Ranked #3,836 in 2024
- 39 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (70 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gaby leans strongly female. 4,227 people counted with this name were female (91.0%), compared with 418 male bearers (9.0%).
Popularity
Gaby: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gaby from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 452 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Gaby remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gaby by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Gaby during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gabys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Gaby, while Maryland, Alabama, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gaby
The name Gaby finds its origins in the German language, deriving from the biblical name Gabriel, which means "God is my strength" in Hebrew. The name Gaby gained popularity as a diminutive form of Gabriel in the late 19th century.
In Germany, the name Gaby was commonly used as a nickname for both males and females named Gabriel or Gabrielle. However, over time, it became more prevalent as a standalone feminine name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gaby can be found in the 1886 German novel "Frau Sorge" by Rudolf Wildenbruch, where a character bears this name.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Gaby. One of the most famous was Gaby Deslys (1884-1920), a French actress and dancer who was a prominent figure in the Parisian entertainment scene of the early 20th century.
Another well-known Gaby was Gaby Morlay (1893-1964), a French film actress who appeared in numerous silent and sound films during the 1920s and 1930s.
In the world of sports, Gaby Andersen-Schiess (1945-2021) was a Swiss Alpine skier who won a gold medal in the downhill event at the 1964 Winter Olympics.
Gaby Kennard (1944-2022) was an Australian television presenter and journalist who hosted various programs on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) for over three decades.
Gaby Roslin (born 1964) is a British television presenter and actress, best known for hosting popular shows such as "The Big Breakfast" and "Children in Need."
While these are just a few examples, the name Gaby has been borne by many notable individuals throughout history, reflecting its enduring popularity across various cultures and time periods.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Gaby
People
Gaby + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gaby as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gaby: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gaby?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,377 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gaby going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 248,914 US residents.
Is Gaby a common name?
We classify Gaby as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,427 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gaby most popular?
The single biggest year for Gaby was 2007, when 70 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gaby is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gaby in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,645 people with the name Gaby, or 1.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,135 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Gaby in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Gaby?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gaby leans strongly female. 4,227 people counted with this name were female (91.0%), compared with 418 male bearers (9.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Gaby?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gaby is Hispanic at 72.9%. The next largest groups are White (19.7%) and Black (3.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Gaby most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Gaby in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.9% (3,387 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Gaby in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gaby a female name?
Yes, 98.2% of people registered as Gaby in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Gaby still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gaby in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Gaby can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are called Gaby?
You can see how many Americans are named Gaby on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.