Garth
An Old Norse name meaning "enclosure" or "garden".
Name Census estimates that about 6,750 living Americans carry the first name Garth. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Garth today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Garth births was 1954 (268 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Garth. 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 Garth with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
6.8K
~ 1 in 50,778 Americans
Peak year
1954
268 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,283
Tracked since 1906
Census
Garth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,806 people with the first name Garth, which placed it at #2,917 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
#2,917
National first-name rank
People counted
7.8K
7,806 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Garth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Garth is White at 81.8%. The next largest groups are Black (12.0%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Garth 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 Garth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.8% · 6,388
- Black or African American12.0% · 939
- Two or more races2.8% · 217
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 157
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 57
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 48
Popularity
Garth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Garth from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,854 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Garth 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 Garth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Garths live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. California, Utah, New York recorded the most babies named Garth, while New Hampshire, North Carolina, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 156 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Garth
The name Garth is derived from the Old English word "gearth," which means an enclosed yard or garden. It is believed to have originated in the Anglo-Saxon culture of England, dating back to around the 5th century AD. The name was likely given to children born or living near an enclosed area, such as a farmyard or a walled garden.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Garth can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of land ownership and taxation in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears in various spellings, such as "Gearth" and "Gerth," indicating its widespread use during the Norman period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Garth. One of the earliest was Garth, the Earl of Merioneth, who lived in the late 12th century and played a significant role in the wars between the Welsh and the English during the reign of King Henry II. Another prominent figure was Garth Callaghan, a Welsh landowner and military commander who fought alongside Owain Glyndŵr in the Welsh Revolt against the English in the early 15th century.
In the realm of literature, the name Garth appears in the works of renowned authors. For instance, Garth Greenfield is a character in Sir Walter Scott's novel "Ivanhoe," published in 1819. This fictional character is depicted as a skilled archer and a loyal follower of the Saxon hero, Cedric.
Moving into more recent times, Garth Brooks (born 1962) is a highly successful American country music singer and songwriter. With numerous hit albums and awards, he is considered one of the best-selling artists of all time in the United States. Another notable figure is Garth Nix (born 1963), an Australian writer of fantasy novels, best known for his "Old Kingdom" series.
These examples illustrate the rich history and diverse cultural influences associated with the name Garth, which has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, ranging from medieval noblemen and military leaders to modern-day writers and musicians.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Garth
People
Garth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Garth 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
Garth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Garth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,750 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Garth 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 50,778 US residents.
Is Garth a common name?
We classify Garth as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,659 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Garth most popular?
The single biggest year for Garth was 1954, when 268 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Garth is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Garth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,806 people with the name Garth, or 2.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,917 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 Garth 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 Garth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Garth appears almost entirely male. Of the 7,806 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Garth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Garth is White at 81.8%. The next largest groups are Black (12.0%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Garth most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Garth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.8% (6,388 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 Garth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Garth a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Garth in the SSA data are male. 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 Garth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Garth 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 Garth 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 share the name Garth?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.