Gregory

English form of Latin Gregorius, from the Late Greek name Γρηγόριος (Gregorios), derived from γρήγορος (gregoros), meaning “watchful” or “alert,” itself from Ancient Greek ἐγείρω (egeiro), “to awaken.” The name was widely used among early Christians and was borne by several important saints, including Gregory Thaumaturgus, Gregory the Illuminator, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Tours, as well as Pope Gregory I the Great, a 6th-century reformer and Doctor of the Church, and 15 later popes. Because of these saints, Gregory and its variants remained common in the Christian world from the Middle Ages to the present, and it has been used in England since the 12th century. A notable modern bearer was the American actor Gregory Peck (1916–2003).

Gregory moved from #539 to #593 for boys between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1962, with 21,976 births.