Baby name
CLASSIC
🇬🇧 🇺🇸 🇦🇺 Gary
/GAIR · ee/
Meaning
“Spear”
Anglicization of a Germanic name element 'gar' meaning spear; popularized in the US by actor Gary Cooper in the 1930s and then carried through mid-century America.
Nicknames
none
Vibe
strongplayful
How it ages.
Peaked firmly in the 1950s-1960s; currently deep in retro territory with little revival sign.
The cultural moment.
Top 10 in the US and UK through the 1950s and 1960s; now nearly extinct for newborns.