# Jay (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/jay/  
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 |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “victory” |
| Pronunciation | /d͡ʒeɪ/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Jaye |
| US babies named this | 198,132 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 195,548 / 2,584 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 14,916, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Hindi जय (jay, literally “victory”).

## What it means

Jay is grouped under victory.

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 11 | 10,271 |
| 2010 | 6 | 15,809 |
| 2012 | 5 | 18,003 |
| 2013 | 7 | 13,787 |
| 2014 | 17 | 7,125 |
| 2015 | 8 | 12,316 |
| 2016 | 6 | 15,140 |
| 2017 | 12 | 9,014 |
| 2019 | 12 | 8,810 |
| 2020 | 12 | 8,632 |
| 2021 | 13 | 8,230 |
| 2022 | 14 | 7,799 |
| 2023 | 11 | 9,267 |
| 2024 | 16 | 7,069 |
| 2025 | 9 | 10,452 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 718 | 397 |
| 2012 | 772 | 386 |
| 2013 | 767 | 389 |
| 2014 | 850 | 371 |
| 2015 | 806 | 393 |
| 2016 | 818 | 392 |
| 2017 | 859 | 382 |
| 2018 | 799 | 398 |
| 2019 | 848 | 374 |
| 2020 | 808 | 380 |
| 2021 | 864 | 377 |
| 2022 | 897 | 367 |
| 2023 | 837 | 381 |
| 2024 | 822 | 396 |
| 2025 | 809 | 392 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 33 | 703 |
| 1997 | 23 | 926 |
| 1998 | 34 | 701 |
| 1999 | 24 | 900 |
| 2000 | 23 | 930 |
| 2001 | 20 | 1,025 |
| 2002 | 20 | 1,066 |
| 2003 | 14 | 1,472 |
| 2004 | 7 | 2,530 |
| 2005 | 11 | 1,934 |
| 2006 | 3 | 5,061 |
| 2007 | 7 | 2,895 |
| 2008 | 3 | 5,545 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 500 | 126 |
| 2012 | 438 | 140 |
| 2013 | 276 | 202 |
| 2014 | 285 | 199 |
| 2015 | 237 | 235 |
| 2016 | 215 | 249 |
| 2017 | 189 | 275 |
| 2018 | 137 | 335 |
| 2019 | 133 | 339 |
| 2020 | 112 | 381 |
| 2021 | 84 | 477 |
| 2022 | 89 | 453 |
| 2023 | 80 | 494 |
| 2024 | 78 | 500 |
| 2025 | 56 | 650 |

## People named Jay

- Jay Leno, American television host and comedian (born 1950)
- Stephen Jay Gould, American biologist and historian of science (1941–2002)
- Jay Bothroyd, English association football player
- Jay Baruchel, Canadian actor
- Jay Mohr, American actor and comedian
- Jay Sean, British singer, rapper and songwriter
- Jay Rodriguez, English association football player (born 1989)
- Jay Cutler, American bodybuilder
- Jay Spearing, English association football player
- Jay Wright Forrester, American operations researcher (1918–2016)
- Jay Kay, English musician
- Jay Gould, American railroad magnate and financier (1836-1892)

## 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.