Fun Facts About the Name Gaines
- More than 1 thousand babies named Gaines: U.S. records list 1,717 babies given the name Gaines from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Gaines Mean?
Gaines is an English surname used as a given name, and its sense comes from Old French. The noun gaaigne meant "gain, profit" and also "a field under cultivation, tilled land," while the verb gaaignier meant both "to gain, to earn" and "to till, to work the land." The two senses belong to one word, so the name is usually explained as "cultivated land" or, less literally, "gain." Old French gaaignier is Germanic in origin, from a Frankish word related to Old High German weidanōn ("to hunt, to graze"), the same root that produced English gain.
A second, less common explanation treats the surname as coming from the Old French personal name Gain, a short form used as a byname. That derivation and the "cultivated land" one are not truly separate in origin, since both rest on the same Germanic root, but which route produced the surname in a given family is not always clear.
Gaines Name History & Origins
Gaines is an English surname of Norman French background. It was formed from the Old French word gaaigne after the Norman Conquest brought French vocabulary and naming customs into England. Because the word was in everyday use for farmland and for profit, the surname probably arose in more than one place at different times rather than descending from a single ancestor. Medieval spellings of English surnames varied widely, and forms such as Gayn, Gayne, and Gaynes appear before the -s ending became the settled form; that ending is the ordinary English surname suffix marking a family or genitive form, not a separate element with its own meaning.
The surname is distinct from similar-sounding names such as Gain, Gaynes, or Cain, which have their own histories and should not be folded together. As a first name, Gaines is a transferred use of the surname, a pattern in which a family name is given to a child to preserve a mother's or grandmother's maiden name. It is found chiefly in the United States, especially where English-descended families settled.
Among notable bearers of the surname is Edmund Pendleton Gaines (1777 - 1849), a career officer in the United States Army, whose name was given to several places, including Fort Gaines in Georgia.
How Popular is the Name Gaines?
Gaines recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 1915. Its best rank was #993 in 1885.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #5,093 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2024 | #6,561 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2023 | #5,525 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2022 | #5,952 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2021 | #4,410 | 23 | 0.0013% |
| 2020 | #3,518 | 31 | 0.0018% |
| 2019 | #4,849 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 2018 | #3,818 | 28 | 0.0015% |
| 2017 | #4,148 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 2016 | #3,716 | 29 | 0.0015% |
| 2015 | #5,133 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 2014 | #4,936 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2013 | #5,751 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2012 | #8,385 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2011 | #7,156 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2010 | #6,472 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2009 | #6,204 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2008 | #5,865 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 2007 | #5,509 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 2006 | #7,610 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2005 | #9,444 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2004 | #11,952 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2003 | #8,977 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2002 | #9,781 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2001 | #8,609 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2000 | #8,492 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1999 | #5,778 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1996 | #6,705 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1995 | #5,638 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1994 | #8,108 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1993 | #7,061 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1992 | #7,783 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #8,637 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1990 | #8,564 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1987 | #6,381 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1986 | #6,199 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1985 | #5,345 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1983 | #6,604 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #4,345 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1981 | #3,688 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1980 | #5,768 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1979 | #5,592 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1976 | #3,822 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1975 | #3,515 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1973 | #4,709 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1972 | #4,138 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1971 | #3,029 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1969 | #3,150 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1968 | #2,976 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1967 | #2,658 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1966 | #2,684 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1965 | #4,104 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1964 | #2,930 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1963 | #3,773 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1962 | #2,923 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1961 | #2,600 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1960 | #2,064 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1959 | #2,145 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 1958 | #1,917 | 18 | 0.0008% |
| 1957 | #1,912 | 18 | 0.0008% |
| 1956 | #2,202 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 1955 | #1,809 | 19 | 0.0009% |
| 1954 | #1,783 | 19 | 0.0009% |
| 1953 | #2,134 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 1952 | #2,032 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1951 | #2,175 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1950 | #1,446 | 26 | 0.0015% |
| 1949 | #1,635 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 1948 | #1,729 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 1947 | #1,753 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 1946 | #1,448 | 24 | 0.0015% |
| 1945 | #1,462 | 21 | 0.0016% |
| 1944 | #1,649 | 18 | 0.0013% |
| 1943 | #1,659 | 19 | 0.0013% |
| 1942 | #1,982 | 14 | 0.0010% |
| 1941 | #1,606 | 19 | 0.0015% |
| 1940 | #1,282 | 28 | 0.0024% |
| 1939 | #1,281 | 27 | 0.0024% |
| 1938 | #2,380 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1937 | #1,274 | 28 | 0.0026% |
| 1936 | #1,234 | 29 | 0.0028% |
| 1935 | #2,301 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1934 | #1,300 | 27 | 0.0026% |
| 1933 | #1,729 | 17 | 0.0017% |
| 1932 | #1,606 | 20 | 0.0019% |
| 1931 | #1,468 | 23 | 0.0022% |
| 1930 | #1,473 | 25 | 0.0023% |
| 1929 | #1,578 | 22 | 0.0020% |
| 1928 | #1,727 | 20 | 0.0018% |
| 1927 | #1,302 | 32 | 0.0028% |
| 1926 | #1,816 | 19 | 0.0017% |
| 1925 | #1,510 | 25 | 0.0022% |
| 1924 | #1,508 | 26 | 0.0023% |
| 1923 | #1,831 | 19 | 0.0017% |
| 1922 | #1,449 | 27 | 0.0025% |
| 1921 | #1,340 | 31 | 0.0028% |
| 1920 | #1,912 | 18 | 0.0017% |
| 1919 | #1,421 | 26 | 0.0027% |
| 1918 | #1,466 | 25 | 0.0025% |
| 1917 | #1,551 | 22 | 0.0024% |
| 1916 | #1,988 | 15 | 0.0017% |
| 1915 | #1,149 | 32 | 0.0038% |
| 1914 | #1,169 | 25 | 0.0038% |
| 1913 | #1,723 | 11 | 0.0021% |
| 1912 | #1,455 | 12 | 0.0028% |
| 1911 | #1,224 | 9 | 0.0040% |
| 1910 | #1,478 | 6 | 0.0031% |
| 1909 | #1,346 | 6 | 0.0037% |
| 1906 | #1,174 | 6 | 0.0045% |
| 1900 | #1,088 | 7 | 0.0047% |
| 1898 | #1,195 | 5 | 0.0041% |
| 1896 | #1,033 | 6 | 0.0050% |
| 1895 | #1,145 | 5 | 0.0043% |
| 1893 | #1,099 | 5 | 0.0045% |
| 1890 | #1,056 | 5 | 0.0045% |
| 1885 | #993 | 5 | 0.0046% |
| 1882 | #993 | 5 | 0.0044% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Gaines Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are introspective, prophetic, philosophical, and soul searching, but also can be analytical, critical and opinionated. You think deeply and clearly, have an air of mystery, can be solitary and secretive. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Gaines's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Gaines's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.