Gary

Medieval short form of Germanic compound names beginning with gari (“spear”)/geri (“spear”), such as Gerard, Gerald, or Gerbert. Cognate with the Scottish and Irish Gaelic name Garaidh.

• The last-century popularity of the given name is due to the American actor Gary Cooper (1901–1961), whose stage name was invented by his agent, a native of Gary, Indiana.

Gary

1. A patronymic surname​.
2. A city in Indiana, and other US places named for persons with the surname Gary.
3. A city in South Dakota
4. A male given name, popular from the 1940s to the 1970s.

• 1957 Meredith Willson: The Music Man: Gary, Indiana (a song):

  Gary, Indiana!

  What a wonderful name!

  Named for Elbert Gary of judiciary fame.

  Gary, Indiana, as Shakespeare would say,

  Trips along softly on the tongue this way

• 1964 Anne Tyler: If Morning Ever Comes. Severn House 1983. page 52:

  "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."

• Gray, Yarg, gray, gyra

From English Gary, from Germanic.

Gary

1. a male given name