Gale

Where Gale comes from

The dictionaries list Gale as a given name — a unisex given name — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1893
    First appearance
    #1,437 among girls, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1899
    Gale Sondergaard born
    American actress
  3. 1957
    Peak, #244
    1,210 babies named Gale — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1960
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #393.
  5. 1969
    Gale Harold born
    actor
  6. 2020
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name.
Namesakes
  • Gale Sondergaard · American actress, 1899–1985
  • Gale Harold · actor, born 1969
  • Gale Anne Hurd · American film producer and screenwriter, born 1955
  • Gale Norton · U.S. politician and former Secretary of the Interior, born 1954
  • Gale Storm · American actress, singer, 1922–2009

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.