Gray
Feminine · “Grey”
Gray is given to both — 676 girls and 5,166 boys since 1880. See Gray as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Gray is a color and a surname, and both roads reach the American birth records. The surname is a Norman byname for someone grey-haired or grey-eyed, and the color word has become a name in its own right in the last twenty years.
How old is the name Gray?
Gray first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Gray is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Gray are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gray most popular?
Gray peaked in 1913, reaching #2827 nationally. Today it ranks #5554, 2,727 places below that high. See the whole 1913 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From grǣg to Gray
The story of Gray
The Grays and Greys were prominent English and Scottish families — Lady Jane Grey ruled England for nine days in 1553, and Earl Grey gave his name to a tea and to the Reform Act of 1832. In America the surname produced a nineteenth-century given name in the usual way, and Gray appears for girls in small numbers from about 1900 with a peak in 1913. Its modern life is different: since about 2010 the color word itself has become a fashionable given name for both sexes, alongside Sage, Slate, Wren and Indigo, in a general turn toward muted color and nature words.
Meaning
Grey; grey-haired or grey-eyed
From Old English grǣg, grey, used as a byname for a person with grey hair or a grey complexion, and giving the surnames Gray and Grey. A separate Norman origin from Graye in Calvados also produced the surname. The reading of the word is settled; which of the two produced a given surname bearer is not always recoverable.
How the name formed
- grǣg
- Gray
Related forms: Grey · Graye
Pronouncing Gray
GRAY
One syllable, exactly as the color. The Gray and Grey spellings are identical in speech, and American English prefers the a.
Nicknames for Gray
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1912
- Most girls named
- 201447 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2827reached in 1913
- Change vs 2024
- −12.0%22 in 2025, from 25
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Gray in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Grey in English — spelling variant
- Graye in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Georgia.
Grays among us
people named Gray are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 73,058 born in 2025 was named Gray
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Gray sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Gray beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Gray in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable and four letters, about as compact as a name gets.
- It is an ordinary English word and never has to be spelled out.
- It works for either sex without adjustment.
- It is used for both sexes and reads as masculine to many Americans.
- Gray and Grey are two spellings and the British preference is the second.
- It is a color name, which invites comment throughout a life.
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What they receive
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Gray
Feminine · #5554 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Grays are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Gray are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gray in 2025?
- Gray ranks #5554 among US girl names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Gray?
- About 1 in every 73,058 US girls born in 2025 was named Gray — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Gray with classmates?
- Gray will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Gray
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eda#5554 · Phebe#5554 · Felicia#5554 · Audie#5554 · Maryellen#5554 · Warren#5554 · Ruthann#5554 · Nettie#5554
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gray? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Gray and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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