Gali
A feminine name of Hindu/Indian origin meaning "lane" or "alley".
Name Census estimates that about 164 living Americans carry the first name Gali. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gali today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gali births was 2023 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gali. 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.
People living today
164
~ 1 in 2,089,965 Americans
Peak year
2023
13 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,762
Tracked since 2000
Census
Gali in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 366 people with the first name Gali, which placed it at #25,756 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
#25,756
National first-name rank
People counted
366
366 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gali
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gali is White at 61.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.9%) and Black (2.7%). 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 Gali 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 Gali at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.5% · 225
- Hispanic or Latino30.9% · 113
- Black or African American2.7% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 9
- Two or more races2.2% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Gali: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gali from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 66 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gali 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 Gali during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Galis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gali
The name Gali has its origins in the Sanskrit language, stemming from the word "gali" meaning "small street" or "alleyway." This name was prevalent in ancient India, particularly in the northern regions, during the Vedic period, which spanned from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE.
One of the earliest known references to the name Gali can be found in the ancient Hindu scriptures, the Upanishads, where it is mentioned in the context of philosophical discussions on the nature of reality and the self. Specifically, the name appears in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the oldest and most revered Upanishads, dating back to around 800-600 BCE.
The first recorded instance of the name Gali being used as a personal name can be traced back to the 5th century BCE, during the reign of the Nanda Empire in ancient India. One notable figure from this time was Gali, a renowned philosopher and scholar who is credited with important contributions to the field of logic and epistemology.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Gali. In the 12th century CE, Gali was the name of a prominent Persian poet and mystic who was known for his profound and thought-provoking verses on spirituality and the human condition.
During the Mughal era in India, which spanned from the 16th to the 19th century, there was a renowned architect named Gali Khan who was responsible for the design and construction of several iconic monuments, including the Taj Mahal in Agra.
In more recent times, there was a prominent Indian freedom fighter and social reformer named Gali Narsimha Reddy, who lived from 1868 to 1933 and played a significant role in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule.
Another notable figure bearing the name Gali was the American engineer and inventor Gali Amin, who was born in 1924 and made significant contributions to the field of aerospace engineering, particularly in the development of advanced aircraft and spacecraft propulsion systems.
The name Gali, with its rich historical roots and cultural significance, has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and fields, each leaving their mark on the world in their own unique way.
People
Gali + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gali 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
Gali: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gali?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 164 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gali 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 2,089,965 US residents.
Is Gali a common name?
We classify Gali as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 165 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gali most popular?
The single biggest year for Gali was 2023, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gali is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gali in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 366 people with the name Gali, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,756 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 Gali 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 Gali?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gali leans strongly female. 313 people counted with this name were female (86.5%), compared with 49 male bearers (13.5%). 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 Gali?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gali is White at 61.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (30.9%) and Black (2.7%). 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 Gali most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gali in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.5% (225 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 Gali in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gali a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gali 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 Gali still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gali 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 Gali 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 have Gali as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Gali on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.