How common is the surname Hays?

34,191 people in the United States had the surname Hays in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,030 Americans. It ranked 1,021st of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Hays?

Robert Hays, American actor, followed by William Harrison Hays.

Where is the surname Hays most common?

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

Is the surname Hays getting more or less common?

More common. 33,194 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 34,191 in 2010, up 3.0%.

Is Hays also a first name?

Yes. Hays is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Hays

A surname, carried by 34,191 people in the United States.

Pronounced /heɪz/ 1 syllable Soundex H200

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Hays is more common than 99.4% of them.

Origin

Spelling variant of Hayes, which has multiple origins.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 34,191 people named Hays in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 9,030 Americans. That is up 3.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 33,194.

#1,021

rank among US surnames

34,191

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+3%

change since 2000 (was #964)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,012	Braun	34,491	8,951
#1,013	Werner	34,488	8,952
#1,014	Quinones	34,468	8,957
#1,015	Saldana	34,434	8,966
#1,016	Mercer	34,431	8,967
#1,017	Hatfield	34,381	8,980
#1,018	McNeil	34,368	8,984

Who is named Hays

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

92% of people named Hays identified as white (not Hispanic), 3.3% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 92%
Black (not Hispanic) 3.3%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
Two or more races 1.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Hayss

10 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Robert Hays
American actor, born 1947
William Harrison Hays
American politician (1879–1954)
Todd Hays
American bobsledder, born 1969
Kathryn Hays
American actress, 1933–2022
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, 1948–2025

Notable Hayss come mostly from the United States (9) and Canada (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Hays

Hays has the Soundex code H200, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code H200.

Questions

Where does the surname Hays come from?: Spelling variant of Hayes, which has multiple origins.
How common is the surname Hays?: 34,191 people in the United States had the surname Hays in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 9,030 Americans. It ranked 1,021st of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Hays?: In the 2010 Census, 92% of people named Hays identified as white (not Hispanic), and 3.3% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Hays?: Robert Hays, American actor, followed by William Harrison Hays.
Where is the surname Hays most common?: Wikidata records people named Hays in the United States and Canada.
How do you pronounce Hays?: Hays is /heɪz/, one syllable.
Is the surname Hays getting more or less common?: More common. 33,194 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 34,191 in 2010, up 3.0%.
Is Hays also a first name?: Yes. Hays is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.