How rare is the name Gray?

5,037 people in the United States have the first name Gray, about 1 in 59,963. It ranks #3,891 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

GRAY

#3,891

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
5,037
About
1 in 59,963
This common or more
83.2%
Who bears it

Of the 5,037 people named Gray, 79.6% reported their origin as White, 7.4% as Black and 6.1% as Hispanic or Latino. 82.5% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Gray peaked in 2021, when 211 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18852025
Peak year
2021
Births that year
211
In 2025*
150 ▼29%
Recorded as
mostly male

At least 5,842 babies have been given the name since 1885. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Gray by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #2,324. The largest share of babies named Gray, 40.8%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#2,37517
1890s#3,14415
1900s#2,95038
1910s#3,113158
1920s#3,481200
1930s#3,515163
1940s#3,106234
1950s#2,942344
1960s#3,450306
1970s#5,300203
1980s#5,325263
1990s#4,609445
2000s#4,293697
2010s#2,5261,630
2020s#2,3241,129
Before 19010.7%
Greatest Generation 1901–276.1%
Silent Generation 1928–455.3%
Baby boom 1946–6410.9%
Generation X 1965–806%
Millennials 1981–969.6%
Generation Z 1997–1220.7%
2013 and later40.8%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Gray is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Gray has been most common in North Carolina (6.2×), Utah (4.2×), and Tennessee (2.7×), and least common in New York (0.44×).

1,854 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Gray

1 other first name also has 5,037 people.

#3,891 Kati · 5,037

Either side of Gray

#3,889 Langston · 5,039#3,889 Shamar · 5,039#3,891 Kati · 5,037#3,893 Donn · 5,036

Spelled almost the same

2 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Gray, most common first.

#3,715 Grey · 5,453#27,528 Grae · 332

Also a last name

As a last name, Gray ranks #89 of 156,621, with 241,208 people. See Gray as a last name

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