Gibson
An English masculine name meaning "bright son" or "yellow son".
Name Census estimates that about 4,904 living Americans carry the first name Gibson. It is a predominantly male name (97.2% of registrations). The average person named Gibson today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gibson births was 2013 (268 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gibson. 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 Gibson with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Gibson is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 151 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
4.9K
~ 1 in 69,893 Americans
Peak year
2013
268 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,616
Tracked since 1882
Census
Gibson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,469 people with the first name Gibson, which placed it at #4,256 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
#4,256
National first-name rank
People counted
4.5K
4,469 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gibson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gibson is White at 77.2%. The next largest groups are Black (6.5%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Gibson 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 Gibson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.2% · 3,452
- Black or African American6.5% · 289
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 278
- Two or more races4.6% · 204
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 167
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 79
Gender
Gender distribution for Gibson
Gibson leans heavily male at 97.2% of total registrations, but 151 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Gibson as a male name
- Ranked #1,616 in 2024
- 105 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2013 (262 births)
Gibson as a female name
- Ranked #11,534 in 2023
- 8 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2015 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gibson leans strongly male. 4,242 people counted with this name were male (95.0%), compared with 221 female bearers (5.0%).
Popularity
Gibson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gibson from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,331 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gibson 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 Gibson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gibsons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. Michigan, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Gibson, while Nevada, Nebraska, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 82 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gibson
The name Gibson originates from an English surname derived from the medieval personal name Gib, a shortened form of the name Gilbert. Gilbert is an ancient Germanic name composed of the elements "gisil" meaning hostage or noble youth, and "berht" meaning bright or famous.
The earliest recorded use of the name Gibson as a first name dates back to the late 16th century in England. It emerged as a given name derived from the already established English surname Gibson, which was initially an occupational name for a young man who worked as an attendant or servant.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Gibson was Sir John Gibson (1637-1717), an English politician and landowner who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1692. Another notable historical figure was William Gibson (1644-1702), an English Catholic priest and philosopher who was a prominent writer on logic and metaphysics.
In the 18th century, Gibson Clough (1700-1763) was an English author and poet known for his work "The Autobiography of a Censor." In the 19th century, Gibson Watt (1804-1876) was a Scottish inventor and engineer who made significant contributions to the development of early steam engine technology.
A more recent example is Gibson Kente (1932-2004), a prominent South African playwright and director who was instrumental in the development of contemporary black theatre in South Africa. His works, such as "Too Late" and "Mama and the Load," explored themes of social injustice and the struggles of urban life during the apartheid era.
Throughout history, the name Gibson has been borne by individuals from diverse backgrounds and fields, reflecting its enduring appeal and versatility as a given name.
People
Gibson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gibson 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
Gibson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gibson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,904 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gibson 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 69,893 US residents.
Is Gibson a common name?
We classify Gibson as "Rare". It ranks above 96.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,462 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gibson most popular?
The single biggest year for Gibson was 2013, when 268 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gibson is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gibson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,469 people with the name Gibson, or 1.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,256 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 Gibson 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 Gibson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gibson leans strongly male. 4,242 people counted with this name were male (95.0%), compared with 221 female bearers (5.0%). 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 Gibson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gibson is White at 77.2%. The next largest groups are Black (6.5%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Gibson most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gibson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.2% (3,452 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 Gibson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gibson a male name?
Yes, 97.2% of people registered as Gibson 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 Gibson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gibson 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 Gibson 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 the name Gibson?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.