COMPILED FROM THE FEDERAL REGISTERS, 1880 TO THE PRESENT
THE ENDANGERED NAMES LIST
American first names, tracked to the federal reporting line.

FROM THE REGISTER — LONG MISSING

Gail
A male given name · United States

BELOW THE FEDERAL REPORTING LINE SINCE 1990 — 36 YEARS

Gail (M): reported births per year050100150200250188019001920194019601980200020202025FEDERAL REPORTING LINE (5)PEAK 227 — 1942
Reported births per year, 1880–2025. The y-axis starts at zero. Years below the reporting line appear as gaps, not zeros.

Gail, for boys. Reported from 1882 to 1989, with a peak of 227 in 1942 and 8,952 births recorded in all. Nothing since 1989 — 36 years below the line, though a name last seen this recently has had less time to come back than the older vanished stock.

REGISTER EXTRACT
First reported1882
Last reported1989
Peak1942 — 227 births
Total recorded, 1882–20258,952
Years above the line102 of a possible 144
Longest absence36 years (1990–2025, ongoing)

Nearby in the register

Pat

Long Missing · 1897–1991 · peak 1941

Earnestine

Long Missing · 1889–2001 · peak 1944

Shirley

Long Missing · 1880–1993 · peak 1935

Dick

Long Missing · 1880–2005 · peak 1934

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national names file (1880–2025). Names below 5 occurrences in a year are not reported.

Somewhere, a grandmother is unsurprised.

A collection of THE MUSEUM OF HOPEFUL MACHINES