Galen

Where Galen comes from

From Middle English Galen, from Latin Galēnus, from Ancient Greek Γαληνός (Galēnós), from γαλήνη (galḗnē, “calm, tranquillity”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Galen
  • Ancient Greek
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1840
    Galen Spencer born
    American archer
  2. 1889
    First appearance
    #878 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1949
    Peak, #329
    433 babies named Galen — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1962
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #545.
  5. 1986
    Galen Rupp born
    American distance runner
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Ancient Greek, of mostly American usage.
Namesakes
  • Galen Rupp · American distance runner, born 1986
  • Galen Spencer · American archer, 1840–1904
  • Galen Weston · Canadian billionaire, 1940–2021
  • Galen Clark · Canadian-born American conservationist, writer and botanist, 1814–1910
  • Galen Young · American basketball player, 1975–2021

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.