Grey
Feminine · “the color grey”
Grey is given to both — 1,052 girls and 6,056 boys since 1880. See Grey as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Grey is the English color, and the two spellings — grey and gray — split by country rather than by meaning, which is unusual.
How old is the name Grey?
Grey first appears in US birth records in 1990 — 35 years ago. The typical Grey is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Grey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Grey most popular?
Grey peaked in 2021, reaching #2233 nationally. Today it ranks #4460, 2,227 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Where it comes from
From graeg to Grey
The story of Grey
Graeg is Old English and both spellings appear in the medieval record; dictionaries in the nineteenth century codified grey for Britain and gray for America, which is why the split looks systematic and is in fact arbitrary. The surname was a byname for hair or complexion. Its use as a given name is recent and given to both sexes, and the grey spelling is the newer of the two in American use.
Meaning
the color grey
From Old English graeg; the grey and gray spellings are both attested from the medieval period and settled into British and American preferences only in the nineteenth century, with no difference of sense.
How the name formed
- graeg
- grey
Related forms: Gray · Grau
Pronouncing Grey
GRAY
One syllable. Grey and Gray are said identically.
Nicknames for Grey
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
- 1990
- Most girls named
- 202183 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2233reached in 2021
- Change vs 2024
- −40.4%31 in 2025, from 52
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.
Grey in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gray in English — spelling variant
- Grau in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Greys among us
people named Grey are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 51,847 born in 2025 was named Grey
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 Joelene test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Grey's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Joelene climbed just as high around 1975, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Joelene's path sketches the road Grey is walking now.
Grey 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 Grey is headed
Grey 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.
Grey beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Grey in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An ordinary English word, so nobody has to be taught to say it.
- Four letters and one syllable — as short as a name gets.
- The arbitrary British and American split is a genuinely good fact.
- Gray is the standard American spelling and will be written for her.
- It is used for both sexes and more often for boys, so forms may guess wrong.
- A one-syllable name gives no room for a nickname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Grey to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Grey
Feminine · #4460 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Greys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Grey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Grey in 2025?
- Grey ranks #4460 among US girl names in 2025, with 31 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Grey?
- About 1 in every 51,847 US girls born in 2025 was named Grey — 31 in all.
- Will my child share the name Grey with classmates?
- Grey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Grey
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Jayce#4460 · Nikita#4460 · Magali#4460 · Emari#4460 · Rilyn#4460 · Danyla#4460 · Lynleigh#4460 · Mandy#4460
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Grey? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Grey and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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