Given name & surname
Gregory
“watchful”·“one who is vigilant; watch-”
Gregory is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “watchful” and “one who is vigilant; watch-” (Greek). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Original GreekΓρηγόριος
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “watchful” and “one who is vigilant; watch-” (Greek). These may reflect different naming traditions.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Greek.
How it developed
In English usage, Gregory developed from Γρηγόριος.
The story
The name’s historical associations include a number of early saints.
Gregory through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 714,753
- 711,893 boys · 2,860 girls
- Most popular year
- 1962
- 22,063 babies
- 2025
- 493
- #593 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −31%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 493 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 593 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 30.9% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 21,976 in 1962. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (47). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 503,949 as a first name in 2020; 85,781 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Gregory’s family of names
In English usage, Gregory has a diminutive in Greg. Gregory shares a linguistic root with Gregorio. Gregory has a related form in Gregg.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Gregory has relatives in 34 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Gregory comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 36
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Greervariant
- Gregoriovariant · Italian, English
- Gregdiminutive · Tagalog, English
- Gregorvariant · German, Icelandic
- Greggdiminutive · English
- Gregorivariant · German, Catalan
- Gregoriosvariant
- Gregoreyvariant
Show 28 moreShow fewer
- Gregorievariant
- Grzegorzvariant · Polish
- Gregoirevariant · Old French
- Greggoryvariant
- Graigvariant
- Grishashort form
- Petshort form
- Greigshort form
- Grregorylikely variant
- Gregoryelikely variant
- Gregorrylikely variant
- Gregoreelikely variant
- Greggorielikely variant
- Mcgregoryvariant · English
- Gorrshort form · English
- Griorgairvariant
- Griogharvariant
- Griogairvariant · Scottish Gaelic
- Greguskavariant
- Gergovariant
- Grygorvariant
- Gregosvariant
- Gregoriusvariant · Latin
- Gregoorvariant
- Gregervariant · Swedish
- Goitoshort form
- Goyoshort form
- Greg(g)short form
Across languages 48
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Γρηγόριοςroot · Greek, Ancient Greek
- ΓρηγόρηςGreek
- Rikucognate · Finnish
- Gregoriafeminine form
- Grigorcognate
- Rekocognate · Finnish
- Grigorydoublet · English
- Krikorequivalent
Show 40 moreShow fewer
- Joriscognate
- ܓܪܝܓܘܪܝܘܣequivalent
- ഗ്രീഗോറിയോസ്equivalent
- Григорииequivalent
- ग्रेगोरequivalent
- Григірequivalent
- Grigwereequivalent
- Глигорequivalent
- غريغوريوسequivalent
- Григорійequivalent
- Рыгорequivalent
- Ⰳⱃⰻⰳⱁⱃⰻⰻequivalent
- Grigorijusequivalent
- Gregoirequivalent
- ГригорийRussian
- Grégoirecognate · French
- Grigorisdoublet · English
- Kelekolioborrowing · Hawaiian
- Řehořrelated form · Czech
- Gregersrelated form · Danish
- Grigoriosequivalent
- Grigorijequivalent
- Grgurequivalent
- Ryhorequivalent
- Grigorijeequivalent
- Hryhoriiequivalent
- Kikoriaizh
- GrækarisFaroese
- GrigoreRomanian
- ԳրիգորArmenian
- GregórioPortuguese
- گریگوریPersian
- გრიგოლიGeorgian
- Gergelycognate · Hungarian
- GrigaliusLithuanian
- ReigoEstonian
- Gréagóircognate · Irish
- Reijocognate · Finnish
- Grigoricognate
- Grégorycognate
See also 2
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Gregory
- Gregory of ToursGallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours538–594
- Gregory WinterBritish biochemist (born 1951)
- Gregory HinesAmerican actor and dancer (1946–2003)
- Greg AbbottGovernor of Texas since 2015born 1957
- Gregory van der WielDutch association football player (born 1988)
- Gregory BatesonEnglish anthropologist, linguist, semiotician and cyberneticist (1904–1980)
- Reid WisemanAmerican astronautborn 1975
- Greg BearAmerican writer best known for science fiction (1951–2022)
- Greg LakeEnglish bassist, guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and producer (1947–2016)
Characters named Gregory: Gregory House (protagonist of the American television series House), Greg Pratt (fictional human).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
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