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2025 data, released 8 May 2026

2025 data, released 8 May 2026

Guy

Guy was the 1637th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 103 babies. Its best year was 1892, when it ranked 65th; the most babies were born in 1957 (2,302). Over the last ten years it has moved down 443 places. More babies were named Guy in the 1950s than in any other decade.

Meaning wood (Germanic, probable); Hebrew 'valley' · Germanic, Old French, Hebrew

Say it GY /ɡaɪ/

Rank in 2025
#1,637 boys, down 275 places since 2020
Babies in 2025
103boys
Girls and boys
Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
Peak year
19572,302 babies
Total since 1880
91,102babies recorded

What does the name Guy mean?

Guy is the Norman French form of a Germanic name, Wido, which DMNES derives from widu, witu 'wood'; other sources also suggest wīt 'wide', so the element is not certain. The Normans brought it to England. After the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, Guy Fawkes effigies led to the English word guy, at first 'oddly dressed person' and then 'man'. In Israel, Guy (Gai) is a separate name meaning 'valley'.

widu (Old Saxon / Old High German, “wood”)

How sure is this? Probable. DMNES gives 'wood'; the Germanic element is sometimes explained differently.

Related names: Guido, Wido, Guyon.

See also: Germanic names.

Sources for this meaning

Guy popularity since 1880

01.25k2.5k3.75k5k 1900192019401960198020002020
Boys Babies per year, US, from Social Security records. Years with fewer than 5 babies show as zero.

A few girls are given the name too: 470 since 1890.

YearRank (boys)Babies (boys)
2025#1,637103
2020#1,362130
2010#1,165158
2000#801201
1990#566323
1980#396417
1970#2351,009
1960#1681,949
1950#1791,237
1940#192716
1930#174827
1920#154957
1910#133250
1900#99240
1890#72249
1880#68239

How popular is Guy, counting every spelling?

Guy has no other common spelling that sounds the same. Counting every name's spellings together, it ranks #1,528 for boys in 2025, against #1,637 on the official list.

How many kids will share the name Guy?

103 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Guy (0.03 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Guy born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 81 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Guy.

Chance of another Guy in a class of 20under 1 in 50US, born 2025
Most likely inMichiganunder 1 in 50 (2024)

Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.

How old are people named Guy?

About 45,100 people born in the US named Guy are alive today, with a median age of 63; half are between 50 and 71. That makes Guy a name most people associate with older generations.

0–910–1920–2930–3940–4950–5960–6970–7980–8990+
Estimated people alive in the US with the name, by age, mid-2026. The darker bar holds the median age.

Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.

Guy by state

How common Guy was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. In 35 states fewer than five boys a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.

Alaska: fewer than 5 a yearAK–Maine: fewer than 5 a yearME–Wisconsin: fewer than 5 a yearWI–Vermont: fewer than 5 a yearVT–New Hampshire: fewer than 5 a yearNH–Washington: fewer than 5 a yearWA–Idaho: fewer than 5 a yearID–Montana: fewer than 5 a yearMT–North Dakota: fewer than 5 a yearND–Minnesota: fewer than 5 a yearMN–Illinois: 0.02 per 1,000 babiesIL0.02Michigan: 0.02 per 1,000 babiesMI0.02New York: 0.06 per 1,000 babiesNY0.06Massachusetts: fewer than 5 a yearMA–Oregon: 0.07 per 1,000 babiesOR0.07Nevada: fewer than 5 a yearNV–Wyoming: fewer than 5 a yearWY–South Dakota: fewer than 5 a yearSD–Iowa: 0.07 per 1,000 babiesIA0.07Indiana: 0.03 per 1,000 babiesIN0.03Ohio: 0.07 per 1,000 babiesOH0.07Pennsylvania: 0.02 per 1,000 babiesPA0.02New Jersey: fewer than 5 a yearNJ–Connecticut: fewer than 5 a yearCT–Rhode Island: fewer than 5 a yearRI–California: 0.08 per 1,000 babiesCA0.08Utah: 0.13 per 1,000 babiesUT0.13Colorado: fewer than 5 a yearCO–Nebraska: fewer than 5 a yearNE–Missouri: fewer than 5 a yearMO–Kentucky: fewer than 5 a yearKY–West Virginia: fewer than 5 a yearWV–Virginia: 0.03 per 1,000 babiesVA0.03Maryland: fewer than 5 a yearMD–Delaware: fewer than 5 a yearDE–Arizona: fewer than 5 a yearAZ–New Mexico: fewer than 5 a yearNM–Kansas: fewer than 5 a yearKS–Arkansas: fewer than 5 a yearAR–Tennessee: 0.05 per 1,000 babiesTN0.05North Carolina: 0.04 per 1,000 babiesNC0.04South Carolina: fewer than 5 a yearSC–District of Columbia: fewer than 5 a yearDC–Oklahoma: fewer than 5 a yearOK–Louisiana: fewer than 5 a yearLA–Mississippi: fewer than 5 a yearMS–Alabama: fewer than 5 a yearAL–Georgia: 0.05 per 1,000 babiesGA0.05Hawaii: fewer than 5 a yearHI–Texas: 0.06 per 1,000 babiesTX0.06Florida: 0.03 per 1,000 babiesFL0.03
Babies per 1,000 of the same sex, Guy, boys, 2021–2025. Darker means more common.

Names with a similar history

These names rose and fell in step with Guy: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Guy, they share its era and feel.

Middle names for Guy · Sibling names for Guy

Questions about the name Guy

What does Guy mean?

Guy means “wood (Germanic, probable); Hebrew 'valley'” (Germanic, Old French, Hebrew origin). Certainty: probable.

How popular is the name Guy?

Guy was the 1637th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 103 babies. Its best year was 1892, when it ranked 65th; the most babies were born in 1957 (2,302). Over the last ten years it has moved down 443 places. More babies were named Guy in the 1950s than in any other decade.

Is Guy a boy or girl name?

In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Guy in the US.

Where is Guy most popular?

In 2021–2025, Guy was most common in Utah (0.13 per 1,000 boys), followed by California and Iowa.