Gordon is a masculine given name of Scottish origin. It comes from the Old Norse personal name "Góthormr," which was composed of the elements "guth" meaning "god" and "hrmr" meaning "helmet." Thus, Gordon means "strong helmet."
The name first appeared in Scotland during the medieval period when the Vikings ruled parts of the country. Over time, it became a popular Scottish surname before reemerging as a given name in the 18th century.
Notable figures with the name Gordon include Charles George Gordon (1833-1885), a British Army officer known for his bravery during several campaigns in Africa and China; and William Alexander Gordon (1919-2014), an American businessman who served as the CEO of General Electric from 1979 to 1981.
Today, Gordon is still considered a Scottish name but has been adopted by other countries as well. It can also serve as a surname or even a given name for girls due to its unisex nature in some cultures.
The name Gordon has a fascinating history of usage in the United States, as shown by these birth statistics from 1893 to 1989.
In the early years recorded, the name Gordon was relatively uncommon, with only five births in 1893. However, it started to gain popularity in the early 20th century, with a steady increase in the number of babies named Gordon each year. The first significant spike occurred in 1915, with 19 births, and this trend continued into the next few years, reaching a peak of 31 births in 1929.
The 1920s and early 1930s saw a consistent number of babies named Gordon, ranging from a low of 12 births in 1933 to a high of 23 births in 1932. However, the latter half of the 1930s witnessed a decline in popularity, with fewer than 14 births each year.
World War II seems to have had an impact on the name's popularity, with only five births in 1945, the first year after the war ended. But by 1946 and 1947, the number of babies named Gordon rebounded to 11 births each year.
The post-war era saw a resurgence in the popularity of the name Gordon, with several years in the late 1950s and early 1960s seeing double-digit numbers of births. The peak of this period was in 1959, with 20 births. However, this trend did not last long, as the number of babies named Gordon began to decline again in the mid-1960s.
By the late 1970s and early 1980s, the name Gordon had fallen out of favor, with fewer than ten births each year. The most recent data point available is from 1989, with six babies named Gordon that year.
In total, over the course of these nearly a century's worth of statistics, there were 670 babies named Gordon in the United States. These figures highlight the ebb and flow of popularity for the name Gordon throughout the 20th century. Despite its fluctuations in popularity, Gordon remains a classic and timeless name with a rich history in America.