Garrison is an English surname meaning "son of Garret", and Garret itself goes back to the Germanic Gerard, "brave with the spear"; the word also means a body of troops stationed in a fort. The radio host Garrison Keillor and the abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison are its most familiar American bearers. Garrison stood at number 668 in 2000, peaked at number 661 in 2002 and has slipped out of the top 1000 to number 1757 among boys' names in 2025.