How common is the surname Jay?

9,852 people in the United States had the surname Jay in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 31,338 Americans. It ranked 3,604th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Jay?

In the 2010 Census, 79% of people named Jay identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.2% as Black (not Hispanic).

Who is the most famous person named Jay?

Bailey Jay, American pornographic film actress, followed by Tony Jay.

Where is the surname Jay most common?

Wikidata records people named Jay in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

How do you pronounce Jay?

Jay is /d͡ʒeɪ/, one syllable.

Is the surname Jay getting more or less common?

More common. 9,771 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,852 in 2010, up 0.8%.

Is Jay also a first name?

Yes. Jay 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 Jay

A French nickname surname, carried by 9,852 people in the United States.

Pronounced /d͡ʒeɪ/ 1 syllable Soundex J000 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Jay is more common than 97.8% of them.

Origin

French origin

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

Jay is a nickname surname: from a description or nickname of an ancestor.

One of 791 French surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 9,852 people named Jay in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 31,338 Americans. That is up 0.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 9,771.

#3,604

rank among US surnames

9,852

people in 2010

3.3

per 100,000 Americans

+0.8%

change since 2000 (was #3,349)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#3,595	Chamberlin	9,897	31,196
#3,596	Storm	9,895	31,202
#3,598	Quach	9,894	31,205
#3,599	Groff	9,889	31,221
#3,600	Mackay	9,886	31,231
#3,601	Thiel	9,880	31,250
#3,602	Agnew	9,856	31,326

Who is named Jay

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

79% of people named Jay identified as white (not Hispanic), 9.2% as Black (not Hispanic) and 4.3% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

White (not Hispanic) 79%
Black (not Hispanic) 9.2%
Asian and Pacific Islander 4.3%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.0%
Two or more races 2.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 2.0%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Jays

11 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Bailey Jay
American pornographic film actress, born 1988
Tony Jay
British actor (1933–2006)
Ricky Jay
American magician and actor (1946–2018)
Sara Jay
American pornographic actress, born 1977
David Jay
American asexual activist, born 1982
Margaret Jay, Baroness Jay of Paddington
British baroness (born 1939)
Karla Jay
American feminist (born 1947)
Terence Jay
American actor and musician, born 1985
Jon Jay
American professional baseball player, born 1985
Ken Jay
American drummer, born 1971
Charlotte Jay
Australian writer (1919-1996)

Notable Jays come mostly from the United States (9), the United Kingdom (1) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Jaye

Jay has the Soundex code J000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code J000.

Other French surnames

All 791 French surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Jay come from?: Borrowed from Hindi जय (jay, literally “victory”).
How common is the surname Jay?: 9,852 people in the United States had the surname Jay in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 31,338 Americans. It ranked 3,604th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Jay?: In the 2010 Census, 79% of people named Jay identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.2% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Jay?: Bailey Jay, American pornographic film actress, followed by Tony Jay.
Where is the surname Jay most common?: Wikidata records people named Jay in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
How do you pronounce Jay?: Jay is /d͡ʒeɪ/, one syllable.
What type of surname is Jay?: Jay is a nickname surname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor.
Is the surname Jay getting more or less common?: More common. 9,771 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 9,852 in 2010, up 0.8%.
What are other spellings of Jay?: Jaye.
Is Jay also a first name?: Yes. Jay 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.