ninan.org

Ray

Boys' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~92,700 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#791 among boys
Births in 2025
338 210,307 since 1880
Typical age
64 years, median

Ray popularity over time

Ray rank by birth year, 1880–2025Ray ranked #95 in 1880 and #791 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #49, in 1891.#100#1,000#791best #49 in 189118901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1926: 3,529 births recorded as Ray. The name is already in use in 1880, where the data begins. It has held a top-100 place in 69 separate years.

In 2025 it ranked #791 with 338 births.

Babies named Ray per yearPeaks at 3,529 births in 1926.3,529 in 1926018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Ray?

An estimated 92,700 living Americans are called Ray. That is out of 210,307 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Ray?

Median age among living Rays: 64. Most living bearers were born in the 1950s. By the site’s era rules that makes Ray a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Ray

Ages of living people named RayHalf of living Rays are older than 64 and half younger.median 64020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Ray is most common

The name is concentrated in Utah, at 1.9× the national rate. California, Arizona and Washington follow.

Where Ray is used more than average4 states use the name Ray more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: 1.5× the national rateWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.7× the national rateCAUtah: 1.9× the national rateUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: 1.6× the national rateAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Ray is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Utah 71 1.9×
California 656 1.7×
Arizona 101 1.6×
Washington 96 1.5×

Ray in England and Wales

ONS recorded 69 births named Ray in 2025, ranking it #602.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Ray comes from

As an English surname, from pet forms derived from the root of Raymond. Also as an English surname, from Old French rei (“king”). Compare Roy, King. Also as an English surname, from Old English rā (“roe deer”). Compare Roe. Also as an English surname, variant of Wray and Rye. As a Scottish Gaelic surname, shortened from McRae. As a French surname, from the verb raier (“to gush out, flow, radiate”). Compare Leray. As a Polish and Slovene surname, Americanized from Raj, from raj (“paradise”). As an Indian surname, variant of Rai.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Ray

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Ray Bradbury American author and screenwriter 1920–2012 119
Ray Kroc American businessman 1902–1984 55
Ray Clemence English association football player 1948–2020 43
Ray Winstone English actor 1957 41
Ray William Johnson American YouTuber 1981 40
Ray Stevenson British actor 1964–2023 39
Ray Dolby American engineer and inventor of the Dolby noise reduction system 1933–2013 37
Ray Walston American actor 1914–2001 37
Photo credits (7)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 665 in 1911 to 1,110 in 1912 — 1.7 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Names similar to Ray

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/ray.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).