Gigi
A pet name derived from the French feminine name Gisèle or Ghislaine.
Name Census estimates that about 3,769 living Americans carry the first name Gigi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gigi today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gigi births was 1962 (271 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gigi. 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 Gigi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.8K
~ 1 in 90,940 Americans
Peak year
1962
271 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,561
Tracked since 1940
Census
Gigi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,733 people with the first name Gigi, which placed it at #3,582 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
#3,582
National first-name rank
People counted
5.7K
5,733 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gigi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gigi is White at 49.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (16.4%). 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 Gigi 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 Gigi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.0% · 2,810
- Hispanic or Latino18.3% · 1,050
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.4% · 942
- Black or African American11.7% · 670
- Two or more races4.0% · 227
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 34
Popularity
Gigi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gigi from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,704 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
Gigi 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 Gigi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gigis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Gigi, while Oregon, New Mexico, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 71 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gigi
Gigi is a French diminutive form of the name Gisèle, which is itself a French variant of the Germanic name Gisela. The name Gisela is thought to be derived from the Old German elements "gis" meaning pledge or hostage, and "hild" meaning battle. It can therefore be interpreted as meaning "battle pledge" or "pledge of battle."
The name Gisela first appeared in historical records in the 8th century, with Saint Gisela, the sister of Charlemagne, being one of the earliest known bearers of the name. In the Middle Ages, the name was particularly popular among German nobility, with several queens and princesses bearing the name Gisela.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Gigi is Gigi Gryce, an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and arranger who lived from 1925 to 1983. He was a prominent figure in the bebop and cool jazz movements and collaborated with artists such as Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk.
Another famous Gigi was Gigi Fernandez, a Puerto Rican former professional tennis player who was born in 1964. She won 17 Grand Slam titles in doubles and mixed doubles competitions, including two French Open and two Wimbledon titles.
In the world of fashion, Gigi Hadid, an American model born in 1995, is a prominent figure with the name Gigi. She has appeared on numerous international fashion magazine covers and has walked for major fashion houses like Chanel, Fendi, and Marc Jacobs.
Gigi Perreau was a French actress and singer who lived from 1915 to 2003. She appeared in numerous films and stage productions throughout her career and was also a popular cabaret performer in Paris.
Gigi Edgley, born in 1977, is an Australian actress and singer best known for her role as Chiana in the science fiction television series Farscape. She has also appeared in several films and stage productions.
People
Gigi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gigi 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
Gigi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gigi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,769 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gigi 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 90,940 US residents.
Is Gigi a common name?
We classify Gigi as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,412 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gigi most popular?
The single biggest year for Gigi was 1962, when 271 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gigi is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gigi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,733 people with the name Gigi, or 1.90 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,582 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 Gigi 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 Gigi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gigi leans strongly female. 5,569 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 162 male bearers (2.8%). 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 Gigi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gigi is White at 49.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (16.4%). 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 Gigi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gigi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.0% (2,810 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 Gigi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gigi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gigi 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 Gigi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gigi 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 Gigi 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 Gigi as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.