Gunther
A masculine Germanic name meaning "battle warrior" or "fighter".
Name Census estimates that about 921 living Americans carry the first name Gunther. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gunther today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gunther births was 1995 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gunther. 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
921
~ 1 in 372,155 Americans
Peak year
1995
32 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,457
Tracked since 1924
Census
Gunther in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,486 people with the first name Gunther, which placed it at #9,371 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
#9,371
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,486 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gunther
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gunther is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.0%) and Two or More Races (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 Gunther 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 Gunther at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.7% · 1,229
- Hispanic or Latino11.0% · 163
- Two or more races2.7% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 24
- Black or African American1.4% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 9
Popularity
Gunther: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gunther from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 238 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Gunther remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Gunther 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 Gunther during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gunthers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Gunther
The name Gunther is of Germanic origin, derived from the Old Germanic words "gund" meaning "battle" and "heri" meaning "army" or "warrior." It was a popular name among the ancient Germanic tribes, particularly the Goths and Franks, who were known for their fierce warrior culture.
The earliest recorded instance of the name dates back to the 5th century, when a Frankish king named Gunther ruled over a region that is now part of modern-day France and Germany. This Gunther was a prominent figure in the Nibelungenlied, a legendary epic poem that recounts the exploits of dragon-slayer Siegfried and the Burgundian kings.
In the 6th century, another notable figure named Gunther was Gunther of Burgundy, a king who played a pivotal role in the downfall of the Burgundian kingdom. He is depicted as a treacherous and villainous character in the Nibelungenlied, which has contributed to the name's association with strength and cunning.
One of the most famous historical figures named Gunther was Gunther of Schwarzburg (1109-1167), a German nobleman and crusader who participated in the Second Crusade. He was known for his bravery and military prowess, further solidifying the name's warrior connotations.
During the Middle Ages, the name Gunther was particularly popular among the German nobility and aristocracy. One notable bearer was Gunther von Schwarzburg (1352-1349), a German prince and military commander who fought in the Hundred Years' War.
In more recent history, Gunther Pluskat (1806-1868) was a German architect and urban planner who designed several notable buildings in Berlin, including the Alte Nationalgalerie and the Kronprinzenpalais.
Gunther Schuller (1925-2015) was an American composer, conductor, and jazz musician who had a significant influence on the development of third stream music, a genre that blended jazz and classical styles.
These historical figures and their associations with warfare, nobility, and artistic achievement have contributed to the enduring popularity and rich cultural significance of the name Gunther.
People
Gunther + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gunther 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
Gunther: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gunther?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 921 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gunther 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 372,155 US residents.
Is Gunther a common name?
We classify Gunther as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,086 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gunther most popular?
The single biggest year for Gunther was 1995, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gunther is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gunther in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,486 people with the name Gunther, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,371 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 Gunther 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 Gunther?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gunther appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,487 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Gunther?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gunther is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.0%) and Two or More Races (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 Gunther most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Gunther in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.7% (1,229 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 Gunther in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gunther a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gunther 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 Gunther still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gunther 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 Gunther 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 named Gunther?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Gunther at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.