Word.ws English Dictionary

Gary

Syllables: Ga·ry/ˈɡæɹ.i/UK/ˈɡæɹ.ɪ/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Gary proper noun: a male given name from the Germanic languages, popular from the 1940s to the 1970s; variant form Garry. Also the ellipsis of Gary City.

Proper noun

Gary (countable and uncountable, plural Garys)

  1. A male given name from the Germanic languages, popular from the 1940s to the 1970s; variant form Garry.
    • Dressed up like a million dollar trooper / Trying hard to look like Gary Cooper1930, Irving Berlin, “Puttin' On The Ritz”
    • "Gary's an awful name. Whatever he's like. It reminds me of a G.I. man with a crew cut, and 'Mom' tattooed on his chest, and lots of pin-up pictures on his wall."1964, Anne Tyler, If Morning Ever Comes, Severn House, published 1983, page 52
  2. A surname from Middle English [in turn originating as a patronymic]; variant form Garry.
  3. A city in Lake County, Indiana, named after American judge and businessman Elbert Henry Gary.
    • Gary, Indiana! ¶ What a wonderful name ¶ Named for Elbert Gary of judiciary fame ¶ Gary, Indiana, as a Shakespeare would say ¶ Trips along softly on the tongue this way--1957 December 19, Meredith Willson, “Gary, Indiana”, in The Music Man
  4. A neighbourhood of Tampa, Florida.
  5. An unincorporated community in Howard County, Maryland.
  6. A minor city in Norman County, Minnesota, named after Garrett L. Thorpe.
  7. A city in Deuel County, South Dakota.
  8. A minor city in McDowell County, West Virginia, named after American judge and businessman Elbert Henry Gary.

Noun

Gary (plural Garys)

  1. Synonym of Gary Glitter (“anus”).
    • He did him up the Gary, he did.
    Synonyms:
    Gary Glitter

Also used as

Gary is also the ellipsis of Gary City.

Gary meaning in Tagalog and Arabic

Gary in Tagalog

male given name
Gary

Gary in Arabic

male given name
غَارِي ḡārī

Synonyms of Gary

Forms of Gary

Proper noun
pluralGarys
Noun
pluralGarys

Origin of Gary

Medieval short form of Germanic compound names beginning with gari or geri ("spear"), such as Gerard, Garrett, Gerald, or Gerbert. Cognate with the Scottish and Irish name Garaidh. Sometimes also a short form of Gareth. The popularity of the given name in the 20th century is due to the American actor Gary Cooper, whose stage name was invented by his agent, a native of Gary, Indiana.

Ellipsis of Gary Glitter.

Words formed from Gary

Phrases with Gary

Words that rhyme with Gary

5 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about Gary

What does Gary mean?
Gary means a male given name from the Germanic languages, popular from the 1940s to the 1970s; variant form Garry.
What is Gary in Tagalog?
Gary in Tagalog is Gary. See Gary meaning in Tagalog.
What part of speech is Gary?
Gary can be a proper noun or a noun.
How do you pronounce Gary?
Gary is pronounced /ˈɡæɹ.ɪ/ (UK).

Words near Gary in the dictionary

  1. Garw Valley
  2. garweed
  3. Garwolin
  4. Garwood
  5. Garwoods
  6. Gary
  7. Gary City
  8. Gary Glitter
  9. Gary Glitters
  10. Gary Stu
  11. Gary Stus

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Gary (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-Gary.ogg.

Cite this entry: “Gary.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gary. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.