How common is the surname Pray?

3,773 people in the United States had the surname Pray in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 81,830 Americans. It ranked 8,700th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Pray?

Charles Nelson Pray, American politician and judge (1868–1963).

Where is the surname Pray most common?

Wikidata records people named Pray in the United States.

Is the surname Pray getting more or less common?

More common. 3,694 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,773 in 2010, up 2.1%.

The surname Pray

An Irish surname, carried by 3,773 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex P600

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Pray is more common than 94.6% of them.

Origin

Irish origin

* As an Irish surname, variant of Prey, from ó Préith, a personal name from Old Irish. * As an English surname, borrowed (via Middle English) from French pré (“meadow”).

One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 3,773 people named Pray in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 81,830 Americans. That is up 2.1% since 2000, when the Census counted 3,694.

#8,700

rank among US surnames

3,773

people in 2010

1.3

per 100,000 Americans

+2.1%

change since 2000 (was #8,253)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#8,694	Veras	3,776	81,765
#8,695	Nicks	3,775	81,787
#8,697	Traver	3,774	81,809
#8,700	Andujar	3,773	81,830
#8,704	Shahan	3,772	81,852
#8,705	Avilez	3,771	81,874
#8,706	Kallas	3,770	81,895

Who is named Pray

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

84% of people named Pray identified as white (not Hispanic), 9.1% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.5% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 84%
Black (not Hispanic) 9.1%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 3.5%
Two or more races 2.0%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Prays

1 notable person on Wikidata, most written-about first

Charles Nelson Pray
American politician and judge (1868–1963)

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Pray

Pray has the Soundex code P600, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code P600.

Other Irish surnames

All 880 Irish surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Pray come from?: * As an Irish surname, variant of Prey, from ó Préith, a personal name from Old Irish. * As an English surname, borrowed (via Middle English) from French pré (“meadow”).
How common is the surname Pray?: 3,773 people in the United States had the surname Pray in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 81,830 Americans. It ranked 8,700th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Pray?: In the 2010 Census, 84% of people named Pray identified as white (not Hispanic), and 9.1% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Pray?: Charles Nelson Pray, American politician and judge (1868–1963).
Where is the surname Pray most common?: Wikidata records people named Pray in the United States.
Is the surname Pray getting more or less common?: More common. 3,694 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,773 in 2010, up 2.1%.