Gale

First Name
32k
in the U.S.
since 1880
Last Name
16k
in the U.S.
in 2010
Girls
Boys
First
Last
On This Page
  1. Related Names
  2. Pronunciation
  3. Meanings and Origins
  4. Notable Persons Named Gale
  5. Notable Persons With the Last Name Gale
  6. Popularity by Year and Gender
  7. Regional Popularity
  8. Ethnicity Distribution
  9. Fun Facts
  10. What Gales Have Visited This Page?
  11. Name Poster

How to Pronounce Gale

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89%
User from Indiana, U.S.
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86%
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Meaning and Origin

What does the name Gale mean? Find out below.

Origin and Meaning of Gale

User Submitted Meanings

  • A user from Washington, United States says the name Gale is of Swedish origin and means "The wind".
  • According to a user from Michigan, United States, the name Gale is of Hebrew origin and means "My Father rejoices.".
  • A submission from California, United States says the name Gale means "Singer of the song".

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International Interest
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Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
noun Gale
Senses
  1. A strong current of air; a wind between a stiff breeze and a hurricane. The most violent gales are called tempests.
  2. A moderate current of air; a breeze."A little gale will soon disperse that cloud." [Shak.]"And winds of gentlest gale Arabian odors fanned From their soft wings." [Milton.]
  3. A state of excitement, passion, or hilarity."The ladies, laughing heartily, were fast getting into what, in New England, is sometimes called a gale." [Brooke (Eastford).]

Note: ☞ Gales have a velocity of from about eighteen (“moderate”) to about eighty (“very heavy”) miles an our.

Etymology: Prob. of Scand. origin; cf. Dan. gal furious, Icel. galinn, cf. Icel. gala to sing, AS. galan to sing, Icel. galdr song, witchcraft, AS. galdor charm, sorcery, E. nightingale; also, Icel. gjōla gust of wind, gola breeze. Cf. Yell

verb Gale
To sale, or sail fast.
noun Gale
A song or story.

Etymology: OE. gal. See Gale wind
verb Gale
To sing.

Etymology: AS. galan. See 1st Gale

noun Gale
A plant of the genus Myrica, growing in wet places, and strongly resembling the bayberry. The sweet gale (Myrica Gale) is found both in Europe and in America.

Etymology: AS. gagel, akin to D. gagel

noun Gale
The payment of a rent or annuity.

Etymology: Cf. Gabel

Other Dictionary Sources
  1. A strong wind moving 45-90 knots; force 7 to 10 on Beaufort scale
Wiktionary
  1. A surname​.
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Notable Persons Named Gale

Gale Anne Hurd

Gale Anne Hurd is a film producer and screenwriter. Gale was born on October 25th, 1955.

Popularity:
Gale Gordon

Gale Gordon was an actor. His career lasted from 1933 to 1991. Gale was given the name Charles T. Aldrich Jr. on February 20th, 1906 in New York, New York, US. He passed away on June 30th, 1995.

Popularity:
Gale Sayers

Gale Sayers is a football player for the Chicago Bears. Gale was born on May 30th, 1943 in Wichita, Kansas.

Popularity:
Gale Harold

Gale Harold is an actor. He was most active from 2000 to present. Gale was given the name Gale Morgan Harold III on July 10th, 1969 in Atlanta.

Popularity:
Gale Storm

Gale Storm was a traditional pop singer, actor, traditional pop music, traditional popsinger, and actress. Her most notable accomplishments were from 1940 to 1989. Gale was given the name Josephine Owaissa Cottle on April 5th, 1922 in Texas, USA. She left this life on June 27th, 2009.

Popularity:
Gale Sondergaard

Gale Sondergaard was an actress. She was most active from 1936 to 1936. Gale was given the name Edith Holm Sondergaard on February 15th, 1899 in Litchfield, Minnesota, U.S. She passed away on August 14th, 1985.

Popularity:
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Notable Persons With the Last Name Gale

Dorothy Gale

Dorothy Gale is a fictional character.

Popularity:
Kelly Gale

Kelly was given the name Kelly Olivia Gale on May 14th, 1995 in Gothenburg.

Popularity:
Megan Gale

Megan Gale is a model and model (people). Megan was born on August 7th, 1975 in Perth.

Popularity:
Amy Gale

Amy Gale is an athlete. Amy was born on November 7th, 1979 in Las Vegas Valley.

Popularity:
Bob Gale

Bob Gale is a screenwriter and writer. Bob was born on May 25th, 1951 in University City, Missouri.

Popularity:
Eric Gale

Eric Gale was a jazz and pop music session musician. He plays Guitar. Eric was born on September 20th, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York, U.S. He breathed his last breath on May 25th, 1994.

Popularity:
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How popular is the baby name Gale in the U.S.?

Click Here to Show Chart Data
Year Total Babies Born Girls Born Boys Born
1883 5 0 5
1887 6 0 6
1888 5 0 5
1890 5 0 5
1893 16 5 11
1894 12 0 12
1895 6 0 6
1896 5 5 0
1897 19 6 13
1898 6 0 6
1900 20 10 10
1901 11 0 11
1902 9 0 9
1903 12 0 12
1904 6 0 6
1905 18 7 11
1907 15 0 15
1908 28 9 19
1909 30 8 22
1910 19 7 12
1911 33 11 22
1912 51 9 42
1913 67 8 59
1914 106 17 89
1915 127 23 104
1916 140 26 114
1917 143 20 123
1918 177 22 155
1919 170 25 145
1920 211 35 176
1921 246 41 205
1922 206 26 180
1923 264 32 232
1924 270 27 243
1925 219 29 190
1926 230 38 192
1927 279 38 241
1928 217 36 181
1929 197 29 168
1930 228 29 199
1931 189 20 169
1932 266 42 224
1933 253 40 213
1934 340 78 262
1935 366 122 244
1936 372 122 250
1937 431 147 284
1938 444 152 292
1939 579 288 291
1940 695 388 307
1941 626 339 287
1942 663 365 298
1943 728 425 303
1944 666 383 283
1945 734 447 287
1946 871 566 305
1947 1,173 796 377
1948 949 600 349
1949 905 591 314
1950 995 662 333
1951 1,143 814 329
1952 1,145 820 325
1953 1,211 947 264
1954 1,268 1,015 253
1955 1,228 1,030 198
1956 1,271 1,078 193
1957 1,363 1,209 154
1958 1,186 1,052 134
1959 963 852 111
1960 716 587 129
1961 579 478 101
1962 423 329 94
1963 415 324 91
1964 379 290 89
1965 315 234 81
1966 299 234 65
1967 271 206 65
1968 214 160 54
1969 223 155 68
1970 181 128 53
1971 160 97 63
1972 134 96 38
1973 119 71 48
1974 113 65 48
1975 87 56 31
1976 64 41 23
1977 56 36 20
1978 50 32 18
1979 46 27 19
1980 50 31 19
1981 46 19 27
1982 48 35 13
1983 36 25 11
1984 25 10 15
1985 32 21 11
1986 25 18 7
1987 23 14 9
1988 18 9 9
1989 22 9 13
1990 19 11 8
1991 19 9 10
1992 15 7 8
1993 13 0 13
1994 15 5 10
1995 7 7 0
1996 11 5 6
1997 6 0 6
1998 8 8 0
1999 6 6 0
2000 13 5 8
2002 5 0 5
2003 7 0 7
2005 13 8 5
2007 7 0 7
2008 5 0 5
2011 6 6 0
2013 14 6 8
2014 9 0 9
2015 8 0 8
2016 8 0 8
2017 10 0 10
* Years where the name was given to 5 or fewer babies will show zero to respect privacy.
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Where is the name Gale popular?

International Interest for Gale

Interest is based how many people viewed this name from each country and is scaled based on the total views by each country so that large countries do not always show the most interest. Darker blue on the map indicates that people in the country are more likely to search for this name.

Longer bars in the bar graph indicate that people in the country are more interested in the name. Not all countries that have shown an interest in the name are listed in the bar graph.

United States
United Kingdom
Canada
Philippines
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Thailand
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Cyprus
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Popularity in the US

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Popularity of Gale as a first name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Gale as a first name in each of the states. See other popular names in Nebraska, South Dakota, or Kansas.

Popularity of Gale as a last name

The map shows the relative popularity of the name Gale as a last name in each of the states. See other popular names in Vermont, Utah, or Wyoming.

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Common last names for Gale

  • Smith
  • Johnson
  • Miller
  • Williams
  • Brown
  • Anderson
  • Wilson
  • Jones
  • Davis
  • Martin
  • Allen
  • Nelson
  • Baker
  • Walker
  • Moore
  • Harris

Common first names for Gale

Ethnicity Distribution

Ethnicity Gale U.S.
█  White 82.62% 64.26%
█  African American 10.02% 11.96%
█  Asian, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander 1.20% 4.85%
█  American Indian and Alaska Native 0.68% 0.69%
█  Two or More Ethnicities 2.08% 1.76%
█  Hispanic or Latino 3.40% 16.26%

Of Last Name Gale

People with the last name Gale are most frequently White or African American

Entire United States

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Fun Facts about the name Gale

  • What name lists does Gale rank for?
    #156Unisex Names
  • How Popular is the name Gale? Gale is the 1,320th most popular name of all time. As a last name Gale was the 2,296th most popular name in 2010.
  • How many people with the first name Gale have been born in the United States? From 1880 to 2017, the Social Security Administration has recorded 32,250 babies born with the first name Gale in the United States. That's more than enough people named Gale to occupy the territory of Gibraltar (United Kingdom) with an estimated population of 29,441 (as of July 1, 2010).
  • What year were 5 or more babies first named Gale? The name was first given to 5 or more babies in the year 1883 when it was given as a first name to 5 new born babies.
  • When was Gale first recorded in the United States? The oldest recorded birth by the Social Security Administration for the first name Gale is Saturday, March 1st, 1873.
  • What year had the most people named Gale born? The highest recorded use of the first name Gale was in 1957 with a total of 1,209 babies. That's a lot of babies named Gale!
  • Random Gale Factoid: According to the 1928 U.S. Social Security Administration data, the first name Gale ranks 92nd in popularity as a baby boy's name in Idaho. Imagine that, 10 babies in Idaho have the same name as you in 1928.
  • Weird things about the name Gale: Your name in reverse order is Elag. A random rearrangement of the letters in your name (anagram) will give Elga. How do you pronounce that?
  • How many people have the last name Gale? In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed 15,866 people with the last name Gale.
  • How likely are you to meet someone with the last name of Gale? If you manage to meet 100,000 people in your life, chances are that 5 of them will have Gale as their last name.
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What Gales Have Visited This Page?

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Name poster for Gale

Name poster for Gale(click to save the high quality version)

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  • Sources:
  • U.S. Census Bureau: Frequently Occurring Surnames from the Census 2000 (public domain).
  • U.S. Social Security Administration: Popular Baby Names, Death Master File (public domain).
  • 1913 Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary via the Collaborative International Dictionary of English (License)
  • Other Dictionary Sources: WordNet 3.1 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University (License).
  • Wiktionary: Titles and License.
  • Notable persons via Wikipedia: Titles and License. Click each image for the attribution information.