Gray
Gray is given to both girls and boys: 22 girls and 128 boys were given it in 2025 (#5,613 among girls’ names and #1,418 among boys’, #2,698 among all names counting both); 5,842 Americans have been recorded with it since 1885 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 4,890 Americans named Gray and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (84% of everyone recorded); the median is 14 years old and half are between 7 and 32.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Gray by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Gray mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Gray is “a male given name.” Its etymology gives the sense “Greek” (Graecus).
As an English, Irish, Scottish, and Norman surname, from the placename Graye-sur-Mer in Calvados, from Late Latin Graecus (“Greek”).
Also as an English surname, from the adjective gray. Compare the Irish calque McGreevy.
As a French surname, from Gray, Haute-Saône in France, from the personal name Gradus, a Gallo-Roman/Celtic pronunciation of Gratus, from the name Gratius.
/ɡɹeɪ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Gray?
#1,418 among boys’ names, 2025
Gray fell from #1,275 in 2015 to #1,418 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born rose from 73.6 to 74.9 per million.
211 babies in 2021, the peak
Gray peaked in 2021, when 211 babies were given it (167 boys, #1,180 among boys’ names). The 150 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 71% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 22 | #5,613 | 128 | #1,418 |
| 2024 | 25 | #5,201 | 142 | #1,345 |
| 2023 | 33 | #4,310 | 175 | #1,175 |
| 2022 | 41 | #3,728 | 164 | #1,209 |
| 2021 | 44 | #3,510 | 167 | #1,180 |
| 2020 | 37 | #3,858 | 151 | #1,237 |
| 2019 | 35 | #4,098 | 156 | #1,219 |
| 2018 | 39 | #3,807 | 148 | #1,246 |
| 2017 | 35 | #4,169 | 145 | #1,259 |
| 2016 | 44 | #3,546 | 144 | #1,270 |
Every recorded year (127)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 45 | #3,500 | 141 | #1,275 |
| 2014 | 47 | #3,385 | 127 | #1,353 |
| 2013 | 26 | #5,192 | 121 | #1,391 |
| 2012 | 17 | #7,241 | 120 | #1,394 |
| 2011 | 22 | #6,008 | 97 | #1,591 |
| 2010 | 24 | #5,679 | 97 | #1,618 |
| 2009 | 20 | #6,650 | 89 | #1,734 |
| 2008 | 17 | #7,522 | 77 | #1,881 |
| 2007 | 14 | #8,686 | 81 | #1,802 |
| 2006 | 11 | #10,144 | 70 | #1,926 |
| 2005 | 11 | #9,677 | 54 | #2,214 |
| 2004 | under 5 | 54 | #2,167 | |
| 2003 | under 5 | 57 | #2,012 | |
| 2002 | under 5 | 46 | #2,264 | |
| 2001 | 6 | #14,130 | 51 | #2,064 |
| 2000 | under 5 | 39 | #2,448 | |
| 1999 | under 5 | 53 | #1,864 | |
| 1998 | under 5 | 38 | #2,322 | |
| 1997 | under 5 | 42 | #2,108 | |
| 1996 | 5 | #14,270 | 56 | #1,692 |
| 1995 | under 5 | 52 | #1,711 | |
| 1994 | 7 | #10,954 | 57 | #1,615 |
| 1993 | under 5 | 54 | #1,640 | |
| 1992 | under 5 | 29 | #2,482 | |
| 1991 | under 5 | 22 | #2,936 | |
| 1990 | under 5 | 30 | #2,329 | |
| 1989 | under 5 | 49 | #1,619 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 28 | #2,209 | |
| 1987 | 5 | #11,929 | 36 | #1,808 |
| 1986 | under 5 | 21 | #2,547 | |
| 1985 | under 5 | 26 | #2,144 | |
| 1984 | under 5 | 29 | #1,907 | |
| 1983 | under 5 | 15 | #2,970 | |
| 1982 | under 5 | 19 | #2,539 | |
| 1981 | under 5 | 18 | #2,611 | |
| 1980 | under 5 | 17 | #2,767 | |
| 1979 | under 5 | 16 | #2,817 | |
| 1978 | under 5 | 20 | #2,313 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 18 | #2,493 | |
| 1976 | under 5 | 9 | #3,825 | |
| 1975 | under 5 | 22 | #2,086 | |
| 1974 | under 5 | 19 | #2,222 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 28 | #1,670 | |
| 1972 | under 5 | 23 | #1,888 | |
| 1971 | under 5 | 21 | #2,004 | |
| 1970 | under 5 | 27 | #1,672 | |
| 1969 | under 5 | 28 | #1,539 | |
| 1968 | under 5 | 28 | #1,485 | |
| 1967 | under 5 | 20 | #1,779 | |
| 1966 | under 5 | 27 | #1,490 | |
| 1965 | under 5 | 26 | #1,536 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 29 | #1,473 | |
| 1963 | under 5 | 39 | #1,241 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 49 | #1,096 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 27 | #1,558 | |
| 1960 | under 5 | 33 | #1,385 | |
| 1959 | under 5 | 37 | #1,284 | |
| 1958 | under 5 | 42 | #1,193 | |
| 1957 | under 5 | 33 | #1,374 | |
| 1956 | under 5 | 39 | #1,221 | |
| 1955 | under 5 | 41 | #1,174 | |
| 1954 | 6 | #5,364 | 30 | #1,392 |
| 1953 | under 5 | 28 | #1,440 | |
| 1952 | under 5 | 32 | #1,330 | |
| 1951 | under 5 | 24 | #1,536 | |
| 1950 | 5 | #5,590 | 27 | #1,408 |
| 1949 | under 5 | 32 | #1,285 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 23 | #1,533 | |
| 1947 | under 5 | 35 | #1,242 | |
| 1946 | under 5 | 25 | #1,421 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 17 | #1,652 | |
| 1944 | 5 | #4,820 | 21 | #1,500 |
| 1943 | under 5 | 14 | #2,020 | |
| 1942 | under 5 | 24 | #1,438 | |
| 1941 | under 5 | 27 | #1,283 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 11 | #2,234 | |
| 1939 | under 5 | 16 | #1,749 | |
| 1938 | under 5 | 15 | #1,852 | |
| 1937 | under 5 | 20 | #1,552 | |
| 1936 | under 5 | 13 | #1,996 | |
| 1935 | 5 | #4,481 | 18 | #1,682 |
| 1934 | under 5 | 19 | #1,634 | |
| 1933 | under 5 | 13 | #2,033 | |
| 1932 | under 5 | 15 | #1,950 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 13 | #2,146 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 16 | #1,919 | |
| 1929 | under 5 | 14 | #2,135 | |
| 1928 | under 5 | 14 | #2,205 | |
| 1927 | under 5 | 17 | #1,983 | |
| 1926 | under 5 | 18 | #1,862 | |
| 1925 | under 5 | 22 | #1,655 | |
| 1924 | under 5 | 22 | #1,697 | |
| 1923 | under 5 | 18 | #1,899 | |
| 1922 | under 5 | 20 | #1,787 | |
| 1921 | 5 | #5,433 | 17 | #2,011 |
| 1920 | under 5 | 33 | #1,263 | |
| 1919 | 7 | #4,007 | 25 | #1,460 |
| 1918 | under 5 | 17 | #1,940 | |
| 1917 | under 5 | 17 | #1,850 | |
| 1916 | under 5 | 13 | #2,196 | |
| 1915 | under 5 | 29 | #1,226 | |
| 1914 | under 5 | 12 | #1,908 | |
| 1913 | 6 | #2,983 | 6 | #2,619 |
| 1912 | 5 | #3,163 | 14 | #1,302 |
| 1911 | under 5 | 7 | #1,447 | |
| 1909 | under 5 | 5 | #1,551 | |
| 1908 | under 5 | 6 | #1,283 | |
| 1906 | under 5 | 5 | #1,314 | |
| 1903 | under 5 | 6 | #1,068 | |
| 1901 | under 5 | 6 | #989 | |
| 1900 | under 5 | 10 | #868 | |
| 1899 | under 5 | 5 | #1,109 | |
| 1897 | under 5 | 5 | #1,129 | |
| 1895 | under 5 | 5 | #1,151 | |
| 1889 | under 5 | 7 | #838 | |
| 1887 | under 5 | 5 | #985 | |
| 1885 | under 5 | 5 | #997 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Gray a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 5,842 Americans recorded as Gray, 12% are girls and 88% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Gray: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Gray, and how old are they?
4,890 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 84% of the 5,842 Americans ever recorded as Gray. The median Gray alive today is 14 years old; half are between 7 and 32.
The 2020 Census counted 5,037 people named Gray (880 women and girls, 4,157 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 3,947 born in the U.S. The Census count is 28% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Gray rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 66 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 427 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 306 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 533 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,190 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 2,370 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Gray born?
The states with the most babies named Gray are Texas, Tennessee and North Carolina, with 41% of its births recorded by state in 2025; Tennessee is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 13 | #1,433 | 0.7× |
| Tennessee | 11 | #652 | 0.8× |
| North Carolina | 7 | #1,073 | 1.9× |
| California | 7 | #2,059 | 0.5× |
| Alabama | 7 | #645 | 0.4× |
| Missouri | 7 | #742 | 0.1× |
| Georgia | 6 | #1,267 | 0.7× |
| Florida | 6 | #1,702 | 0.5× |
| South Carolina | 6 | #693 | 0.5× |
| Virginia | 5 | #1,146 | 0.6× |
Where Gray is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Gray is most over-represented in North Carolina: since 1910 it was given 1.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Gray with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 6 names spelled alike, given to 968,021 babies since 1880, Gray is the fourth most given (<1% of them). In 2025 it was given to 150 of their 629 babies (24%), the third most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Gray
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Gray and names like it
- Compare Gray and GaryBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sGray peaked in 2021.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Gray since 1910.
- The top names of 2021The year the most babies were named Gray.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Gray alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with GMost given first.