Gregory

What Gregory means

Means “watchful, vigilant”

English Giancarlo Via Latin Grēgorius, from post-classical Ancient Greek Γρηγόριος (Grēgórios, “watchful, vigilant”), from Ancient Greek ἐγείρω (egeírō, “awaken, arouse”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Gregory” (revision 94539772), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Gregory?

US: Falling: down from #346 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #765 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1962, when 21,976 boys got the name (#21 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 3,465 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 14,312 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in SC (0.8 per 1,000 boys), CT (0.76 per 1,000 boys), AR (0.72 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Gregory is #593 in the US and #1406 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Gregory were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

If you like Gregory

Boys

• Timothy#203“to honour + god”^*
• Steven#271“crown, wreath”^*
• Phillip#651Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 6,047 babies; 425 in 2025
• Stephen#383“crown, wreath”^*
• Dennis#707“follower of (the wine god) Dionysus”^*
• Christopher#68“carrier of Christ”^*

For a sister

• Melissa#419“bee, honey, or honeybee”^*
• Christina#770Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1985, with 16,600 babies; 352 in 2025
• Nicole#382Form of Nicholas, meaning “victory + people”^*
• Teresa#908Editor’s note Down from #664 in 2015 to #908 in 2025 in the US
• Cassandra#630Editor’s note Down from #512 in 2015 to #630 in 2025 in the US
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Greek, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Gregory’s. Rank is US 2025.