Gary is likely derived from compound names of Germanic origin, composed of the element gar ("spear").
Although the names Gary and Gareth are etymologically unrelated, the former being of Germanic origin and the latter of Celtic origin, Gary is sometimes taken as a pet form of Gareth. In fact, the popularity of Gareth has been influenced by the popularity of Gary. A variant form of Gary is Garry, the spelling of which has been influenced by that of Barry. An informal pet form of Gary is Gaz, a variant of which is Gazza.
A given name associated with Gary and Garry is Garrison; the latter is sometimes borne by sons of men bearing the former names. The Gaelic Garaidh is also associated with Gary.
The usage of Gary as a given name is intertwined with the success of the actor Gary Cooper (originally Frank Cooper). The American industrialist Elbert Henry Gary left his name to the town of Gary, Indiana. The theatrical agent Nan Collins, who lived in this town, suggested the name Gary to Frank Cooper, one of her clients. Cooper thus adopted the name Gary and enjoyed a successful film career (as Gary Cooper) which caused the name to become popular. The name's popularity was further maintained by the popularity of cricketer Gary Sobers (whose first name was actually a pet form of Garfield), footballer Gary Lineker (b. 1960), and musician Gary Glitter (originally Paul Gadd).
According to the Social Security Administration, Gary was relatively rare as a given name in the 1900-1920s period (e.g., in the 1910s it was the 677th most frequent name, given to less than 0.01% of the babies born in that decade). In the 1930s, 0.38% of the male babies in the United States were named Gary, and in the 1950s as many as 1.54% of the male babies were given this name, making it the 12th most popular given name of that decade.
The name Gary reached its record popularity (9th place) in 1954, the year after Gary Cooper received his Best Actor Academy Award for his leading role in High Noon. Since then, the popularity of Gary as a given name in the United States has been on a very slow, but steady decline. In the 1990s, this name was the 170th most popular, given to around 0.1% of newborn males.
In the United Kingdom, its popularity peaked during the 1960s (it was the 16th most popular male name in 1964) and still ranked as high as 26th in 1984, but by the 1990s had fallen out of the top 100.
Gary Kildall, American computer scientist, microcomputer entrepreneur
Gary McKinnon, Scottish systems administrator, hacker
Garry Newman, Maker of Garry's Mod
Garry Wise, World's best support manager
Gary Bautell, American military radio broadcaster
Gary Busey, American actor
Gary Cole, American television and film actor
Gary Coleman, American actor
Gary Collins (actor), American television and film actor
Gary Cooper, American film actor
Gary Dell'Abate, American radio producer, television host
Gary Dourdan, American actor
Gary Lucy, British actor
Garry Marshall, American television producer
Garry Moore, American actor and television personality
Gary Oldman, English actor, filmmaker, musician
Gary Ross, American writer, director, actor
Garry Shandling, American actor and comedian
Gary Sinise, American actor, film director, musician
Gary Winick, American film director, producer
Gary Barber, English singer songwriter
Gary Barlow, English singer-songwriter
Gary Brooker, English singer, songwriter, pianist
Gary Burton, American jazz vibraphonist
Gary Cherone, American rock singer-songwriter
Gary Garcia, American musician, songwriter
Gary Glitter, English glam rock singer and convicted child molester
Gary Green (conductor), a British conductor
Gary Green (musician), English multi-instrumentalist of Gentle Giant, Three Friends
Gary M. Green, an American musician and entrepreneur
Gary Holt (musician), Thrash metal guitarist, Exodus, Slayer
Gary Kemp, British musician
Gary Lightbody, Northern Irish musician, songwriter
Gary Lux, Austrian singer (Eurovision 1985 and 1987)
Gary Moore, Northern Irish musician
Gary Numan, English singer, composer, musician
Gary Richrath, American rock guitarist
Gary Rossington, Guitarist, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Gary Thain, New Zealand rock bassist
Gary Condit, California congressman who was briefly a murder suspect
Gary Doer, Canadian diplomat and politician
Gary Elkins (Texas politician), American politician
Gary Hart, American politician, lawyer, author, professor, commentator
Gary Johnson, American businessman and politician
Gary Locke, American politician
Garry McCarthy, former superintendent of the Chicago Police Department
Gary Painter, Texas sheriff
Gary M. Polland, American politician, journalist, and talk-show host
Gary Smith (politician), American politician
Gary Anderson (darts player), Scottish darts player
Gary Aramist, Israeli Olympic sport shooter
Gary Bailey, English footballer
Gary Bettman, American sports commissioner
Gary Brabham, Australian racing driver
Gary Brackett, American football player
Gary Breen, Irish footballer
Gary Cahill, English footballer
Gary Carter, American baseball player
Gary Danielson, American football player
Gary Dunn, American football player
Gary Gillespie, Scottish football player
Garry Gilliam, American football player
Gary Greaves, American football player
Gary_Green (American football). an American football player
Gary Green (baseball), an American baseball player
Gary Green (baseball owner), an American businessman and minor-league baseball team owner
Gary Green (ice hockey), a Canadian ice hockey player
Gary Gussman, American football player
Gary Hall, Jr., American swimmer
Gary Hocking, Rhodesian motorcycle racer
Gary Holt (footballer), a Scottish footballer
Gary Holt (ice hockey), a Canadian ice hockey player
Gary Hughes, HGV Driver/FA Coach
Garry Kasparov, Russian chess grand master and former world champion
Gary Kelly, Irish footballer
Gary Lineker, English footballer
Gary McSheffrey, English footballer
Gary Medel, Chilean football player
Gary Moeller, American football coach
Gary Naysmith, Scottish footballer
Gary Neville, English footballer
Gary Paffett, English racing driver
Gary Payton, American basketball player
Gary Player, South African golfer
Garry Ringrose, Irish rugby union player
Gary Sheffield, American baseball player
Gary Speed, Welsh footballer and manager
Gary M. Stevens, English footballer
Gary Gygax, American writer and game designer
Gary Larson, American cartoonist
Gary Snyder, American poet
Garry Trudeau, Artist and creator of Doonesbury comic strip
Gary Rauco, American poet and creator of "I'm Gay and I'm Proud"
Gary Arndt, American travel photographer
Gary Becker, American economist
Gary Brolsma, Internet celebrity
Gary L. Francione, American legal scholar
Gary Gordon, American military sniper
Gary, Carrie Fisher's dog
Gary Oak, Pokémon researcher
Gary the Snail, SpongeBob's pet snail on the cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants
