# Cray (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/cray/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 2,719 |
| US rank (2010) | 11,560 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 113,551 people |
| Change since 2000 | -0.9% (2,743 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As an Irish surname, from ó Craobhaigh, a byname from craobhach (“branched”). Compare Creevy. * As an English surname, from the River Cray, of Celtic origin, from Proto-Celtic *garwos (“rough”). * As a German surname, Americanized from Krey, Kray. * As a Dutch surname, variant of Kraai, from kraai (“crow”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Cray in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 72% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 24% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 1.6% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 1.6% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Cray in the United States.

## People named Cray

- Seymour Cray, Applied mathematician, computer scientist, and electrical engineer (1925–1996)
- Robert Cray, American blues guitarist and singer (b. 1953)

## Similar surnames

Carey, Cary, Cory, Croy, Cora, Craw, Cruey, Cera, Carr, Curry, Correa, Cherry.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.