Gail
Gail is a masculine and feminine given name. As a feminine name, it can be a short form of the name Abigail.
Meaning & Origin of Gail
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Gail is a masculine and feminine given name. As a feminine name, it can be a short form of the name Abigail.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
The Story of Gail
Gail first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1881, with 5 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 1951, when 9,886 Gails were born — ranking #36 that year. As of 2026, Gail ranks #6,560 for baby girls with 17 births, holding steady (+0%). In total, more than 202K Gails have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1880s through the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Notable people named Gail
A small selection from Wikipedia. Tap "Read more" below to see the full list on Wikipedia.
- Gail Beggs , Canadian government minister
- Gail Boggs (born 1951), American actress
- Gail Borden (1801–1874), American inventor
- Gail Borden (figure skater) (1907–1991), American figure skater
- Gail Brodsky (born 1991), American tennis player
- Gail Bruce (1923–1998), American football player
- Gail Collins (born 1945), American journalist
- Gail Cronauer (born 1948), American actress
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Names that sound like Gail
Phonetically similar names — useful when Gail is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Gail
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About the name Gail
Gail is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1881 and has accumulated 202K births in the dataset. Gail's peak popularity came in 1951 when it ranked #36. Use the chart and map above to compare Gail's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1951 →
- Names of the 1950s →
- Names starting with "G" →
- Browse all girl names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.