Parents are still very much tied to names meaning “light,” nature names and girl names that start with (or contain) the letter “el.”
Baby boy names that start with G have decreased in popularity over the past 100 years.
What used to be a top-five first initial in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s started falling out of the top-10 in 1965 and eventually fell out of the top-15 in 2023, according to Behind the Name.
The letter “g” was most recently the 16th most popular first initial in the U.S., per Behind the Name.
READ MORE: Brighten up your baby name list with these baby boy names that mean ‘light’
But that’s not to say there aren’t any good G boy names to consider for your baby boy.
In fact, three boy names starting with G — Gabriel, Grayson and Gael — were listed in the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) annual list of the top-100 most popular boy names in 2024.
Gabriel ranked 43rd, while Grayson came in at No. 48 and Gael finished the year at 89th.
If you’re considering boy names that start with G for your little one, then you picked a good day to search the internet because this underused initial is full of gems just waiting to be rediscovered.
Gabriel — means “God is my strong man” in Hebrew
Grayson/Greyson — means “son of the steward” in Middle English
Gael/Gale/Gail/Gayle — means “happy” in Hebrew or “strong wind” in English
Giovanni — Italian form of John meaning “God is Gracious” in Hebrew
George — means “farmer” or “earthworker” in Greek
Giorgio — Italian form of George meaning “farmer” or “earthworker” in Greek
Graham/Graeme — English place name meaning “gravelly homestead” in Old English
Griffin — means “strong lord” in Old Welsh or “lion eagle” in English
Grant — means “great” or “large” in Norman French
Gavin — means “white hawk” in Welsh
Gideon — means “hewer” or “one who cuts” in Hebrew
Grady — means “noble” and “illustrious” in Irish
Gianni — Italian short form of Giovanni meaning “God is gracious” in Hebrew
Gunner/Gunnar — means “warrior” in Old Norse
Gunther — cognate of Gunner and Gunnar meaning “warrior” in Old Norse
Gregory/Greggory — means “watchful” or “alert” in Greek
Greg/Gregg — short form of Gregory meaning “watchful” or “alert” in Greek
Gregorio — Italian and Spanish form of Gregory via Greek Gregorius
Garrett — means “power of the spear” or “brave spear” in German
Gareth — cognate of Garrett meaning “power of the spear” or “brave spear” in German
Gerard — means “brave spear” or “hardy spear” in German
Gerardo — Italian and Spanish form of Gerard meaning “brave spear” in German
Gustav — means “staff of the Geats” in Old Norse
Gustavo — Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Gustav meaning “staff of the Greats”
Gage — means “measure” or “pledge” in Old French
Guillermo — Spanish form of William meaning “desire to protect” in German
Grey/Gray — referring to a color intermediate between black and white
Gatlin — means “kinsman” or “companion” in Old English
Gian — short form of Giovanni meaning “God is gracious” in Hebrew
Gary/Garry/Gerry/Geary — means “spear” in German or a short form of Gerald and Gerard
Gerald/Garold/Gerold — means “power of the spear” in German
Glenn/Glen — means “valley” in Scottish
Glynn — means “valley” in Welsh
Gordon — place name meaning “spacious fort” in Scottish
Gene — short form of Eugene meaning “well born” in Greek
Gilbert — means “bright pledge” in Old German
Gilberto — Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Gilbert
Guy — means “wood” in Old High German or “valley” in Hebrew
Geoffrey — means “Great peace,” “peaceful territory” or “peaceful foreigner” in Old German
Garland — means “triangle land” in Old English or “wreath of flowers and leaves” in English
Galen — means “calm” in Greek
Gaylon/Gaylen — variant of Galen meaning “calm” in Greek
Guadalupe — means “valley of the wolves” or “river of the wolf” in Arabic
Grover — means “grove of trees” in Old English
Gus — short form of Augustus meaning “exalted” or “venerable” in Greek
Garth — means “garden” in Old Norse
Gaylord — means “high-spirited” or “boisterous” in Old French
Glendon — means “from the dark glen” in Scottish Gaelic
Granville — place name meaning “big town” or “large settlement” in Norman
Giles — means “young goat” in Greek
Gonzalo — means “war” or “battle” in German
Gianluca — means “God’s gracious light” in Italian
Giancarlo — means “God is a gracious man” in Italian
Galileo — means “from Galilee” in Latin and “district” in Hebrew
Gaspar — Spanish and Portuguese form of Jasper meaning “treasurer” in Hebrew
Gaspard — French form of Jasper meaning “treasurer” in Hebrew
Giuseppe — Italian form of Joseph meaning “he will add” in Hebrew
Gannon — means “fair-skinned” or “fair-haired” in Celtic
Gaines — means "clever" or "ingenious" in Old French
Giuliano — Italian form of Julian meaning “downy-bearded” in Greek
Gentry — means “noble” or “nobility” in French
Gallagher — means “descendant of foreign helper” in Old Irish
Gaston — means “guest” or “stranger” in German
Giannis — modern Greek form of John meaning “God is gracious” in Hebrew
Genesis — means “birth” or “origin” in Greek
A brief history of boy names that start with G
As mentioned above, boy names starting with G aren’t as popular as they once were.
The letter “g” peaked in 1951 when it accounted for 5.8% of all boy names — making it the fifth most popular first initial in the U.S. that year, according to Behind the Name.
For reference, the letter “g” accounted for just 2.58% of all boy names in 2024.
Its popularity in 1951 was largely tied to the rise of Gary, the 10th most popular boy name of 1951, George, which ranked 22nd, and Gregory, which finished the year at 25th, according to the SSA.
Gerald (36th) and Glenn (58th) were the only two other G boy names that landed in the top-100 in 1951.
Fast forward to 2024 and only two of those boy names with G — George (124th) and Gregory (539th) — are listed in the SSA’s top 1,000. Gary, Gerald and Glenn, however, have all fallen off the list.
Instead, names like Gabriel, Grayson and Gael are leading the way today.
Likewise, the name Grady saw the biggest increase in popularity from 2023 to 2024 among boy names that start with G — jumping from 395th in 2023 to 370th in 2024, per the SSA.
On the other hand, Gian and Gage were the two G names for boys to decrease the most in popularity over that span.
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Still not finding what you were looking for? If boy names that start with G aren’t your cup of tea, Mod Moms Club has plenty more baby name lists (and a baby name generator) to help you in your search!
