Garner vs Garry
American parents have registered 47,849 Garrys since 1880, against 2,338 Garners. But in 2025 it was Garner that was commoner, 20 babies to 15.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Garner Garry
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Of the 131 years in which either name was published, Garry for 103 years and Garner for 28 years. The lead changed hands 19 times.
- 1886–1892 Garry ahead
- 1908–1923 Garner ahead
- 1924–2018 Garry ahead, apart from 2 short spells
- 2021–2023 Garner ahead
14 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Garner | Garry | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 2,338 | 47,849 |
| Most in one year | 82 | 2,229 |
| Babies in 2025 | 20 | 15 |
| Estimated living today | 1,300 | 32,000 |
| Median age today | 29 | 67 |
| Peak year | 1932 | 1954 |
| Best rank | 674th boys | 138th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 5,861st | 5,861st |
| First recorded | 1881 | 1880 |
| Girls / boys | 59 / 2,279 | 179 / 47,670 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Which name is older
Half of the Garrys alive today are over 67; half the Garners are over 29. That is 38 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.
Where each one is strongest
- Garner Tennessee (11.4×), Kentucky (8.6×), Texas (6.3×)
- Garry Kentucky (2.7×), Arkansas (2.2×), Indiana (1.9×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Garner and Garry.