# Gray (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/gray/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “greek” |
| Pronunciation | /ɡɹeɪ/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Grey |
| US babies named this | 5,842 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 5,166 / 676 (12% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 451, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

* As an English, Irish, Scottish, and Norman surname, from the placename Graye-sur-Mer in Calvados, from Late Latin Graecus (“Greek”). * Also as an English surname, from the adjective gray. Compare the Irish calque McGreevy. * As a French surname, from Gray, Haute-Saône in France, from the personal name Gradus, a Gallo-Roman/Celtic pronunciation of Gratus, from the name Gratius.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 22 | 6,011 |
| 2012 | 17 | 7,245 |
| 2013 | 26 | 5,194 |
| 2014 | 47 | 3,387 |
| 2015 | 45 | 3,500 |
| 2016 | 44 | 3,546 |
| 2017 | 35 | 4,170 |
| 2018 | 39 | 3,808 |
| 2019 | 35 | 4,099 |
| 2020 | 37 | 3,859 |
| 2021 | 44 | 3,511 |
| 2022 | 41 | 3,730 |
| 2023 | 33 | 4,312 |
| 2024 | 25 | 5,204 |
| 2025 | 22 | 5,614 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 97 | 1,591 |
| 2012 | 120 | 1,394 |
| 2013 | 121 | 1,391 |
| 2014 | 127 | 1,353 |
| 2015 | 141 | 1,275 |
| 2016 | 144 | 1,270 |
| 2017 | 145 | 1,259 |
| 2018 | 148 | 1,246 |
| 2019 | 156 | 1,219 |
| 2020 | 151 | 1,237 |
| 2021 | 167 | 1,180 |
| 2022 | 164 | 1,209 |
| 2023 | 175 | 1,175 |
| 2024 | 142 | 1,345 |
| 2025 | 128 | 1,418 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 4 | 4,763 |
| 2018 | 4 | 4,684 |
| 2020 | 3 | 5,493 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 13 | 1,688 |
| 2012 | 12 | 1,852 |
| 2013 | 12 | 1,796 |
| 2014 | 10 | 2,079 |
| 2015 | 16 | 1,511 |
| 2016 | 20 | 1,319 |
| 2017 | 31 | 968 |
| 2018 | 44 | 749 |
| 2019 | 31 | 929 |
| 2020 | 45 | 723 |
| 2021 | 51 | 688 |
| 2022 | 40 | 799 |
| 2023 | 29 | 1,018 |
| 2024 | 21 | 1,282 |
| 2025 | 10 | 2,269 |

## People named Gray

- Gray Maynard, American mixed martial artist (born 1979)
- Harrison Gray Dyar, Jr., American entomologist (1866-1929)
- Harrison Gray Otis, American politician (1765-1848)
- William Francis Gray Swann, American physicist (1884–1962)
- Gray Frederickson, American film producer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.