Grayson
Feminine · “son of the steward”
Grayson is given to both — 4,190 girls and 128,994 boys since 1880. See Grayson as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Grayson is the son of a steward. A greyve was a bailiff or a reeve — a man who ran an estate for somebody else — and the surname names his children rather than him.
How old is the name Grayson?
Grayson first appears in US birth records in 1961 — 64 years ago. The typical Grayson alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 4,200 people named Grayson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Grayson most popular?
Grayson peaked in 2001, reaching #1111 nationally. Today it ranks #3100, 1,989 places below that high. See the whole 2001 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From greyve to Grayson
The story of Grayson
Medieval English estates were run by officers — a reeve, a bailiff, a greyve — and the job produced surnames as reliably as any trade did. Grayson reached America and stayed a surname for a long time; its rise as a given name is recent and rapid, first for sons and then, in smaller numbers, for daughters. It belongs to the group of -son surnames — Grayson, Jackson, Emerson, Addison — that American naming has moved to the front of the name in the last few decades.
Meaningscholars disagree
son of the steward
The usual reading takes Grayson from the son of a greyve, a Middle English word for a steward or bailiff, related to the German Graf. A second and simpler line makes it the son of somebody called Gray, a nickname for grey hair. Both are documented and neither has carried outright, though the steward reading is the more commonly given.
How the name formed
- greyve
- Grayson
Related forms: Graf · Greyson
Pronouncing Grayson
GRAY-sun
Two syllables, stress on the first, the second reduced. There is no ambiguity in the sound; only the a or e in the middle ever needs saying.
Nicknames for Grayson
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
- 1961
- Most girls named
- 2007191 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1111reached in 2001
- Change vs 2024
- +20.9%52 in 2025, from 43
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.
Grayson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Graf in German — related form
- Greyson in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, North Carolina, California.
Graysons among us
people named Grayson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 30,909 born in 2025 was named Grayson
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Nadene test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Grayson's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nadene climbed just as high around 1938, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nadene's path sketches the road Grayson is walking now.
Grayson 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
Where Grayson is headed
Grayson is easing off slowly — about 33% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Grayson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Grayson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Gray is a ready short form and a complete name in its own right.
- A documented English surname with a real medieval office behind it.
- Two syllables that every English speaker says correctly at first sight.
- It is given to sons far more often, so a daughter will be read as a son on paper.
- Grayson and Greyson are both common and the middle vowel gets swapped constantly.
- Read literally it still means 'son of', which some families mind.
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What they receive
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Grayson
Feminine · #3100 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Graysons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,200 people named Grayson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Grayson in 2025?
- Grayson ranks #3100 among US girl names in 2025, with 52 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Grayson?
- About 1 in every 30,909 US girls born in 2025 was named Grayson — 52 in all.
- Will my child share the name Grayson with classmates?
- Grayson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Grayson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Addalynn#3100 · Yatziri#3100 · Alanie#3100 · Ellora#3100 · Lainie#3100 · Clarice#3100 · Brady#3100 · Kalila#3100
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Grayson? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Grayson and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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