Gordon

Meaning: Possibly spacious fort
Origin: Scottish surname

Nicknames: Gordy

Boy's name · #1052 in the US (2025) · Timeless

Popularity over time

Few names move less than Gordon — on the books since 1880, #1052 in 2025, and dependable in between. Roughly 155,000 boys have carried the name since. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

See where Gordon is more common.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 22 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Gordon ranks in other countries and regions.

#467 in Canada (2025) · #762 in Scotland (2025) · #5,137 in England & Wales (2025) · #2,159 in Sweden (2024) · #4,375 in Ecuador (2024) · #461 in New Zealand (2023) · #2,402 in Austria (2023) · #665 in Poland (2020) · #4,526 in France (2019) · #749 in Ireland (2018) · #758 in Slovakia (2013) · #277 in N. Ireland (1999) and 2 more.

Famous Gordons

Gordon Brown — Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010 (born 1951)
Gordon Banks — English footballer (1937–2019)
Gordon Moore — American businessman, co-founder of Intel Corporation (1929–2023)
Gordon Ramsay — British celebrity chef (born 1966)
Gordon Allport — American psychologist (1897–1967)
Gordon Lightfoot — Canadian singer-songwriter (1938–2023)
Gordon Cooper — American astronaut (1927–2004)
Gordon Strachan — Scottish football coach and former player (born 1957)
Gordon Hayward — American basketball player (born 1990)
Gordon Parks — American photographer, musician, writer and film director (1912–2006)

In stories & tradition

Gordon Freeman — Half-Life protagonist
Gordon Gekko — Movie antagonist
Gordon the Big Engine — Thomas & Friends (TV series)

What Gordons become

Among 2,661 notable people named Gordon:

Sports figures appear 1.34× more often than among typical names — e.g. Gordon Banks, English footballer (1937–2019).

Spellings & nicknames

Earlier generations knew Gordie — the standard of the 1930s.

Similar names: Jerome · Golden · Gilbert · Wilson · Melvin · Don

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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