Male name
Gustav
182 births (England and Wales, 1996–2025), peaking in 2015. Expression number: 9.
Origin
A common royal name in Sweden, from Old Swedish Gøtstaf, from Old Norse Gautr (“Geat/Goth”) + stafr (“staff”). The oldest record in Sweden dates back to the year 1225 ("Gostauus"). In Peder Swart's chronicle about Gustav Vasa dated in the mid-1500s, the name is spelled Götstaff and is assumed to mean "Staff of the Geats."From Wiktionary, entry “Gustav”, text under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Do you know a Gustav?
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How many babies received it
From the official birth registers.
In England and Wales
Peak in 2015: 13 births. 182 births from 1996 to 2025. A name given mostly in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. It is still given: 36 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Baby names in England and Wales, Open Government Licence v3.0.
In the United States
Peak in 1917: 99 births. 4,267 births from 1880 to 2025. A name given steadily, decade after decade, from the 1880s to the 2020s. It is still given: 162 births from 2021 to 2025.
Source: Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names, public domain.
Elsewhere in the world
The name in the birth records of the 10 countries we track. The period covered varies from country to country.
| Country | Births | Period | Best rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Berlin | 717 | 2012–2023 | 77th in 2016 |
| Switzerland | 675* | 1915–2025 | — |
| Austria | 405 | 1984–2025 | — |
* These are the people living in the country, counted by year of birth, not the number of births.
Source: Open Data Berlin, Häufige Vornamen, CC BY 3.0 DE (every name a child carries, not only the first); Federal Statistical Office, First names of the population by year of birth, free use with attribution; Statistik Austria, Vornamen, CC BY 4.0.
The numbers of the name
Each letter has a value: A = 1, B = 2… I = 9, then J = 1 again (Pythagorean method). We add them up, then reduce to a single digit, except 11, 22 and 33.
■ vowel · ■ consonant
Expression
All the letters: talents, the way you act.
9
humanity, generosity, completion
7 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 4 = 18 → 9
Soul
The vowels: what drives you deep down.
4
work, structure, stability
3 + 1 = 4
Personality
The consonants: what others notice first.
5
freedom, change, movement
7 + 1 + 2 + 4 = 14 → 5
- Digits missing from the name
- 5, 6, 8, 9
- Most frequent digit
- 1 · initiative, independence, beginnings
The meaning of the numbers comes from numerological tradition; it isn't a measure of your personality. A full portrait needs your first and middle names, your last name at birth, and your date of birth. How we calculate
Your name and theirs
The number of each name, and the number of the bond, which comes from adding them together. A symbolic game: what your two names say together, to be read as a metaphor, not as a verdict on your relationship.