Meaning and history
Meaning uncertain, the name appears in this form in Thomas Malory’s 15th-century Le Morte d’Arthur, where Gareth, also called Beaumains, is a brother of Gawain who accompanies Lynet to rescue her sister Lyonesse from the Red Knight. Malory seems to have based it on Gaheriet or Guerrehet, the name of a similar figure in French sources, and it may ultimately come from Welsh, perhaps from Gwrhyd, meaning “valour,” or Gwairydd, meaning “hay lord.”
20062006: 56 births, rank #2,248
2007: 54 births, rank #2,372
2008: 52 births, rank #2,432
2009: 44 births, rank #2,753
2010: 49 births, rank #2,511
20112011: 52 births, rank #2,403
2012: 45 births, rank #2,678
2013: 53 births, rank #2,364
2014: 102 births, rank #1,559
2015: 102 births, rank #1,581
20162016: 104 births, rank #1,575
2017: 88 births, rank #1,746
2018: 67 births, rank #2,101
2019: 58 births, rank #2,339
2020: 47 births, rank #2,658
20212021: 44 births, rank #2,819
2022: 55 births, rank #2,493
2023: 47 births, rank #2,737
2024: 50 births, rank #2,637
20252025: 46 births, rank #2,765
In 2025, 46 babies were recorded with the name Gareth, ranking #2,765 among boys.