Given name & surname
Gaius
“one who rejoices”
Gaius is used as a given name and a surname. One Latin interpretation is “one who rejoices.”
Original LatinCaius
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Latin interpretation is “one who rejoices.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Latin.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1920. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
In the Bible
In the Bible, the name Gaius appears in Acts 20:4, 3 John 1:1.
- Acts 20:4
- 3 John 1:1
From biblical name research
Gaius through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 529
- 529 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2014
- 42 babies
- 2025
- 31
- #3,598 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −1%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 31 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3,598 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 0.8% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 42 in 2014. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (5). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 498 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Gaius’s family of names
Gaius has a feminine form in Cornelia. In Italian usage, Gaius has a related form in Caio. In Latin usage, Gaius has a conventional equivalent in the Italian form Caio.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Gaius has relatives in 7 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
Nicknames & forms 6
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 10
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Corneliafeminine form
- Kajusequivalent
- Cayoequivalent
- gaiosequivalent
- Γάιοςequivalent
- ⲅⲁⲓⲟⲥborrowing · Coptic
- Gaiodescendant · Italian
- Gajoequivalent
Show 2 moreShow fewer
People named Gaius
- Gaius CharlesAmerican actorborn 1983
- Gaius MakoutaCongolese association football playerborn 1997
- Da EmperorNigerian indigenous rapperborn 1993
Characters named Gaius: Gaius Baltar (Battlestar Galactica (2004)), Gaius Helen Mohiam (the Dune universe).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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