Grayson
Masculine
Grayson is given to both — 128,994 boys and 4,190 girls since 1880. See Grayson as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Grayson began as a northern English surname, the kind carried in parish registers for centuries before anyone thought to put it at the front of a name. It moves in two even beats, GRAY-sun, ending in the same -son that runs through Mason, Jackson and Emerson. It is now in use across the English-speaking world, from the United States to Canada, Scotland and England.
How old is the name Grayson?
Grayson first appears in US birth records in 1905 — 120 years ago. The typical Grayson is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 127,000 people named Grayson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Grayson most popular?
Grayson peaked in 2018, reaching #32 nationally. Today it ranks #51, 19 places below that high. See the whole 2018 chart.
Where it comes from
From Grayve / Grieve to Grayson
The story of Grayson
Grayson is an English surname from the north of the country, where it is recorded in medieval and early modern documents in forms including Grayveson. Like most English surnames, it stayed a surname for centuries, passed down families rather than chosen for babies. The American habit of moving family names to the front — the same route that gave us Mason, Carter and Harrison as first names — brought Grayson into use as a given name, and it appeared quietly in US records for a long stretch before its recent rise. Its climb since has been sharp enough that most bearers are children, and it has since been picked up in Canada, Scotland, and England and Wales.
Meaningscholars disagree
Either "son of the grayve" (a steward or bailiff) or "son of Gray"
Surname scholars give two serious readings. One traces Grayson to Middle English grayve or grieve, a farm steward or bailiff — so the earliest bearers were the steward's sons. The other reads it as a straightforward patronymic from Gray, itself a byname for someone grey-haired or grey-clad. Both are well argued, and older spellings such as Grayveson support the first without ruling out the second.
How the name formed
- Grayve / Grieve
- Grayveson
- Grayson
Related forms: Greyson · Gray
Pronouncing Grayson
GRAY-sun
Stress on the first syllable. There is only one way to say it, and almost anyone who hears it can spell a version of it — though not always the version you chose.
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
- 1905
- Most boys named
- 20188,606 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #32reached in 2018
- Change vs 2023
- −10.3%5,805 in 2025, from 6,471
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
- Greyson in English — spelling variant
- Gray in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida. International figures from Statistics Canada, National Records of Scotland, Office for National Statistics. Sources
Graysons among us
people named Grayson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 294 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 Keith 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: Keith climbed just as high around 1966, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Keith's path sketches the road Grayson is walking now.
Grayson is coming down from a big peak (#32 in 2018). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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 boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Pronounced correctly on first hearing by nearly every English speaker; the sound gives no trouble in any accent.
- Sits in the well-established -son family of surname first names, so it needs no explaining to teachers, coaches or new relatives.
- Has one clean short form, Gray, which also works as a standalone name for an adult who wants something briefer.
- In active use in the US, Canada, Scotland, and England and Wales — it travels without translation.
- Grayson and Greyson both circulate, so expect to spell it aloud fairly often. Choosing one and sticking to it saves the most trouble.
- Its wave is very recent, so a Grayson will meet plenty of boys his own age with the name and almost no adults with it — the name currently reads as young.
- In DC Comics, Grayson is the family name of Dick Grayson, the first Robin. Some children will make the connection; whether that lands as fun or as tiresome depends on the child.
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What they receive
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Grayson
Masculine · #51 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 127,000 people named Grayson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Grayson in 2025?
- Grayson ranks #51 among US boy names in 2025, with 5,805 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Grayson?
- About 1 in every 294 US boys born in 2025 was named Grayson — 5,805 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.
Wesley#52 · Thiago#50 · Maverick#49 · Logan#53 · Josiah#54 · Charles#48 · Weston#55 · Isaac#47
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; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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