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Home › Baby Names Directory › Gaylord

Gaylord

♂ Boy

Pronounced GAY-lord /ˈɡeɪlɔːrd/High

Meaning: Gaylord began as a surname from the Old French gaillard, 'lively, brave, high-spirited', which passed into English as a family name and then a given name. It was a genuine early-twentieth-century boy's name before the word 'gay' shifted meaning and retired it.Medium

In 30 seconds: Gaylord is a surname-name from Old French 'gaillard', high-spirited or bold (GAY-lord) — a real early-1900s boy's name now effectively retired by a shift in the word 'gay'.
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Origin MediumEnglish, French
MeaningGaylord began as a surname from the Old French gaillard, 'lively, brave, high-spirited', which passed into English as a family name and then a given name. It was a genuine early-twentieth-century boy's name before the word 'gay' shifted meaning and retired it.
U.S. rank (1998)#10158 ↘ Falling
1998 U.S. births5 boys (0.00% of U.S. boys)
Peak year1931
Total births (all-time)≈ 6,086

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

peak 193118821998

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Gaylord is one of the oldest names here, a surname from the Old French gaillard — 'lively, gallant, high-spirited' — that served as a first name for boys in the early twentieth century. It reached its high in 1931 and then declined steadily.

A boy named Gaylord at its peak would be over ninety today; it reads as a grandfather-or-great-grandfather name. Unlike most vintage boys' names, it has not been swept into the revival, because the everyday meaning of 'gay' changed over the century. Baseball's Gaylord Perry kept it visible for one more generation.

Did you know? Gaylord peaked back in 1931, one of very few names in this set with a pre-Depression high; its slide is driven not by fashion alone but by the twentieth-century change in what 'gay' signals.
Overall data confidence 78%
References — Gaylord — Surname from Old French gaillard; early-20th-century given name

Variations

GaillardGalord

Nicknames

GayLord

Famous Bearers

  • ★Gaylord Perry (1938–2022)
    American Hall of Fame baseball pitcher known for a long career and a suspected spitball.
  • ★Gaylord Nelson (1916–2005)
    U.S. senator and Wisconsin governor who helped found Earth Day.

If you like Gaylord…

Garland— a same-era surname-name for boys
Willard— shares the dated early-century -ard sound
Orville— another grandfather-generation American boy's name
Delbert— a like formal-old boy's name of the period

Explore names like Gaylord

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Frequently Asked

What does the name Gaylord mean?

Gaylord comes from the Old French gaillard, meaning 'lively, brave, high-spirited', by way of a Norman surname.

How do you pronounce Gaylord?

It's said GAY-lord /ˈɡeɪlɔːrd/ — two syllables, stress on the first.

Is Gaylord a boy or girl name?

Gaylord is used as a boy's name.

How popular is Gaylord?

Gaylord was a modest early-twentieth-century boy's name that peaked around the early thirties and has essentially disappeared since.

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