Garrison
- Pronunciation
- [Ga-rri-son]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Spear-Fortified Town.
- Origin
- German
About the Name Garrison
Garrison is a name of Germanic and English surname origin traditionally understood to mean "spear-fortified town" or "defended settlement," evoking strength, protection, and steadfastness. Distinguished and sturdy, it carries the polished feel of a surname turned given name, with a strong, rhythmic three-syllable sound that gives it both dignity and presence.
Among its notable bearers is American author, humorist, and radio personality Garrison Keillor, born Gary Edward Keillor in 1942 in Anoka, Minnesota, best known as the creator and longtime host of a beloved public-radio variety show. His prominence lent the name a warm, literary, distinctly American character, associating it with storytelling, gentle humor, and a particular Midwestern sensibility that still colors how the name is heard today. That literary warmth sits comfortably alongside the name's sturdy, fortified meaning, giving it both strength and approachability.
Garrison first entered the US Social Security top-1000 in 2000 and appeared through 2014, reaching its peak in 2002 at rank #661. It registered 206 births in 2014 at rank #999, with 210 in 2013 at #952 and 201 in 2012 at #990, reflecting a steady presence through the 2000s and early 2010s before it slipped from the top-1000. Recorded variants include Gare and Gary, offering families friendly short forms of this dignified name.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Garrison
US Popularity History (2000–2014)
Annual US births named Garrison by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2003 with 286 boys named Garrison (boy rank #679 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2014, ranked #999 for boys (206 US births). That's 320 places below its 2003 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Garrison Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Garrison the strongest states are South Carolina, Kentucky, Wisconsin.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Carolina | #630 | 19 |
| 2 | Kentucky | #646 | 34 |
| 3 | Wisconsin | #748 | 23 |
| 4 | Tennessee | #762 | 62 |
| 5 | Missouri | #783 | 25 |
| 6 | North Carolina | #820 | 31 |
| 7 | Minnesota | #827 | 15 |
| 8 | Georgia | #917 | 64 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia | #917 | 64 |
| 2 | Minnesota | #827 | 15 |
| 3 | North Carolina | #820 | 31 |
| 4 | Missouri | #783 | 25 |
| 5 | Tennessee | #762 | 62 |
| 6 | Wisconsin | #748 | 23 |
| 7 | Kentucky | #646 | 34 |
| 8 | South Carolina | #630 | 19 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Garrison in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
Famous People Named Garrison
1 notable figure from history and culture who share the name Garrison.
- Garrison Keillor is an award-winning American writer and radio personality.
Looking for names like Garrison?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Garrison to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Garrison against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).