# Hays (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/hays/  
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) | 34,191 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,021 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 9,030 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.0% (33,194 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | /heɪz/, 1 syllable |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

Spelling variant of Hayes, which has multiple origins.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Hays 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) | 92% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 3.3% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6% |
| Two or more races | 1.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Hays in the United States and Canada.

## People named Hays

- Robert Hays, American actor
- William Harrison Hays, American politician (1879–1954)
- Todd Hays, American bobsledder
- Kathryn Hays, American actress
- Charles Melville Hays, American businessman (1856–1912)
- George Washington Hays, American politician (1863-1927)
- Charles Hays, American politician and Confederate Army officer (1834-1879)
- Arthur Garfield Hays, American lawyer (1881–1954)
- Wayne Hays, American politician (1911-1989)
- Richard B. Hays, American theologian

## Similar surnames

Haas, Haase, Hass, Haws, Hause, Hasse, Haus, Hase, Hayes, Hawes, Hawks, Hash.

## 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.