Gary.
A male given name from the Germanic languages, popular from the 1940s to the 1970s; variant form Garry.
Meaning & usage
A male given name from the Germanic languages, popular from the 1940s to the 1970s; variant form Garry.
A surname from Middle English [in turn originating as a patronymic]; variant form Garry.
Numerous places in the United States: A city in Lake County, Indiana, named after American judge and businessman Elbert Henry Gary.
Numerous places in the United States: A neighbourhood of Tampa, Florida.
Numerous places in the United States: An unincorporated community in Howard County, Maryland.
Numerous places in the United States: A minor city in Norman County, Minnesota, named after Garrett L. Thorpe.
Numerous places in the United States: A city in Deuel County, South Dakota.
Numerous places in the United States: A minor city in McDowell County, West Virginia, named after American judge and businessman Elbert Henry Gary.
Numerous places in the United States: Ellipsis of Gary City: a town in Panola County, Texas, United States.
Where this word comes from
Medieval short form of Germanic compound names beginning with gari or geri ("spear"), such as Gerard, Garrett, Gerald, or Gerbert. Cognate with the Scottish and Irish name Garaidh. Sometimes also a short form of Gareth. The popularity of the given name in the 20th century is due to the American actor Gary Cooper, whose stage name was invented by his agent, a native of Gary, Indiana.
Synonym of Gary Glitter (“anus”).
He did him up the Gary, he did.
Where this word comes from
Ellipsis of Gary Glitter.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.