Recorded 1990–2025 · United States
Gauge was most popular in 2009, when 327 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,564 that year. In 2025 it ranked #8,652, with 26 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 4,821 people named Gauge.
Gauge first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1990, which makes it about 35 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 36 of the 36 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 4,821 American births named Gauge between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 4,765 are estimated to be alive today.
26 American babies were named Gauge in 2025, ranking #8,652 that year.
Gauge is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 47 births a year, against 292 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -84% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Gauge is a boy’s name — 0.0% of the 4,821 Americans given it were girls and 100.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 4,765 Americans named Gauge are alive today — 99% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 16 years old, and half are between 12 and 20. That is a narrow band: Gauge arrived and faded within about a decade rather than staying in steady use.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Gauge on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org