Murray

Girls 2% Boys 98% Recorded 1880-2025

Murray is given to both girls and boys: 8 girls and 50 boys were given it in 2025 (#11,603 among girls’ names and #2,633 among boys’, #5,123 among all names counting both); 22,299 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).

An estimated 6,920 Americans named Murray and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (31% of everyone recorded); the median is 65 years old and half are between 47 and 75.

Babies named Murray each year, first recorded in 1880

Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).

Murray or Murry Names of the 1920s Names in New York

Births of Murray by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.

What does Murray mean?

Wiktionary, English section

Murray is “a male given name transferred from the surname.” Its etymology gives the senses “sea” (*mori) and “settlement” (*trebā).

Scottish surname derived from the place name Moray in northeastern Scotland, from Medieval Latin Moravia, Morauia, from Scottish Gaelic Moireibh, Moireabh, Moreb, ultimately from Proto-Celtic *mori (“sea”) + *trebā (“settlement”).

/ˈmʌɹi/

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary, entry Murray (English), CC BY‑SA 4.0. Quoted from the entry; text after a cross-reference to another sense is left out.

Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).

How popular is Murray?

#2,633 among boys’ names, 2025

Murray rose from #2,752 in 2015 to #2,633 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 23.0 to 29.3 per million.

635 babies in 1922, the peak

Murray peaked in 1922, when 635 babies were given it (628 boys, #206 among boys’ names). The 58 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 9% of that peak.

Girls and boys named Murray each year

Births by sex.

Murray by year
Year	Births	Rank	Per 1,000 boys
2025	50	#2,633	0.03
2024	48	#2,735	0.03
2023	62	#2,285	0.04
2022	47	#2,779	0.03
2021	41	#3,006	0.02
2020	47	#2,682	0.03
2019	52	#2,542	0.03
2018	44	#2,780	0.02
2017	52	#2,474	0.03
2016	43	#2,818	0.02

Every recorded year (146)

Year	Births	Rank	Per 1,000 boys
2015	44	#2,752	0.02
2014	40	#2,915	0.02
2013	26	#3,930	0.01
2012	42	#2,852	0.02
2011	31	#3,490	0.02
2010	30	#3,602	0.02
2009	23	#4,383	0.01
2008	26	#3,998	0.01
2007	18	#5,144	0.01
2006	19	#4,800	0.01
2005	33	#3,143	0.02
2004	15	#5,406	0.01
2003	21	#4,061	0.01
2002	18	#4,433	0.01
2001	32	#2,902	0.02
2000	25	#3,381	0.01
1999	29	#2,910	0.02
1998	28	#2,899	0.01
1997	17	#3,994	0.01
1996	32	#2,464	0.02
1995	25	#2,893	0.01
1994	31	#2,475	0.02
1993	34	#2,272	0.02
1992	37	#2,111	0.02
1991	34	#2,174	0.02
1990	37	#2,032	0.02
1989	45	#1,720	0.02
1988	33	#1,972	0.02
1987	33	#1,923	0.02
1986	38	#1,681	0.02
1985	31	#1,902	0.02
1984	37	#1,621	0.02
1983	41	#1,506	0.02
1982	49	#1,352	0.03
1981	49	#1,356	0.03
1980	61	#1,172	0.03
1979	52	#1,284	0.03
1978	52	#1,249	0.03
1977	44	#1,386	0.03
1976	55	#1,159	0.04
1975	68	#998	0.04
1974	61	#1,058	0.04
1973	69	#976	0.04
1972	66	#997	0.04
1971	95	#833	0.05
1970	109	#790	0.06
1969	115	#729	0.06
1968	93	#772	0.05
1967	120	#682	0.07
1966	140	#629	0.08
1965	136	#643	0.07
1964	176	#598	0.09
1963	206	#553	0.10
1962	203	#555	0.10
1961	227	#527	0.11
1960	217	#540	0.10
1959	242	#505	0.11
1958	257	#488	0.12
1957	269	#475	0.12
1956	309	#429	0.15
1955	281	#441	0.14
1954	286	#424	0.14
1953	249	#453	0.13
1952	282	#410	0.15
1951	273	#412	0.14
1950	233	#437	0.13
1949	276	#402	0.16
1948	253	#422	0.14
1947	294	#400	0.16
1946	238	#412	0.15
1945	189	#433	0.14
1944	219	#408	0.16
1943	290	#359	0.20
1942	256	#382	0.19
1941	265	#359	0.22
1940	259	#353	0.22
1939	244	#363	0.22
1938	265	#342	0.24
1937	251	#341	0.24
1936	223	#363	0.22
1935	255	#345	0.24
1934	261	#339	0.25
1933	279	#321	0.28
1932	341	#300	0.33
1931	377	#284	0.36
1930	412	#279	0.38
1929	437	#266	0.41
1928	504	#251	0.46
1927	511	#252	0.45
1926	568	#234	0.51
1925	587	#226	0.53
1924	590	#228	0.52
1923	589	#220	0.54
1922	628	#206	0.58
1921	604	#219	0.55
1920	524	#239	0.49
1919	464	#245	0.47
1918	477	#246	0.47
1917	436	#241	0.47
1916	434	#244	0.49
1915	361	#250	0.43
1914	339	#229	0.52
1913	268	#229	0.52
1912	254	#216	0.59
1911	139	#212	0.62
1910	89	#260	0.46
1909	67	#277	0.41
1908	72	#249	0.47
1907	71	#250	0.48
1906	47	#300	0.35
1905	60	#252	0.45
1904	46	#283	0.36
1903	31	#350	0.26
1902	38	#315	0.31
1901	41	#270	0.39
1900	49	#299	0.33
1899	33	#309	0.31
1898	32	#344	0.26
1897	41	#284	0.36
1896	31	#348	0.26
1895	39	#286	0.33
1894	27	#355	0.23
1893	18	#443	0.16
1892	24	#390	0.20
1891	21	#384	0.21
1890	32	#308	0.29
1889	24	#366	0.22
1888	18	#460	0.15
1887	34	#287	0.34
1886	19	#413	0.17
1885	21	#391	0.19
1884	17	#463	0.15
1883	20	#393	0.19
1882	19	#420	0.17
1881	14	#477	0.14
1880	17	#438	0.15

Download Murray’s births by year (CSV)

Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.

Is Murray a boy’s or a girl’s name?

Of the 22,299 Americans recorded as Murray, 2% are girls and 98% boys.

Share of girls among babies named Murray, by year

Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.

Girls and boys named Murray: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.

How many people are named Murray, and how old are they?

6,920 alive in 2026, estimated

That is 31% of the 22,299 Americans ever recorded as Murray. The median Murray alive today is 65 years old; half are between 47 and 75.

The 2020 Census counted 9,102 people named Murray (311 women and girls, 8,791 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 8,013 born in the U.S. The Census count is 14% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.

Alive today, by age

100-10910

90-99199

80-89801

70-791,650

60-69 (median)1,580

50-59744

40-49422

30-39326

20-29232

10-19320

0-9440

Alive today, by generation

By generation
Generation	Born	Alive
Silent Generation	1928-1945	900
Baby Boomers	1946-1964	3,180
Generation X	1965-1980	1,180
Millennials	1981-1996	566
Generation Z	1997-2012	405
Generation Alpha	2013-2025	673

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 Murray born?

The states with the most babies named Murray are New York, Pennsylvania and Texas, with 53% of its births recorded by state since 1910.

States with the most births: girls and boys together; rank among boys’ names in the state in 2025
State	Since 1910	Rank, boys	vs. national
New York	6,585	not ranked	3.4×
Pennsylvania	1,042	not ranked	0.7×
Texas	741	not ranked	0.6×
California	703	not ranked	0.6×
Michigan	580	not ranked	0.7×
Alabama	517	not ranked	1.0×
Illinois	493	not ranked	0.4×
Georgia	459	not ranked	0.7×
New Jersey	458	not ranked	0.7×
Massachusetts	449	not ranked	0.6×

Where Murray is more common than its national share predicts

Relative to its national share, Murray is most over-represented in New York: since 1910 it was given 3.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.

New York3.42×

Bars start at 1× (as often as the national share predicts).

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 Murray 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 2 names spelled alike, given to 25,478 babies since 1880, Murray is the most given (88% of them). In 2025 it was given to 58 of their 58 babies (100%), again the most given.

Murray and the names spelled alike
Name	Since 1880	Births 2025	Peak year
Murray	22,299	58	1922
Murry	3,179	under 5	1917

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 Murray

Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.

Name	Recorded	1880-2025
Wilfred	29,520
Elwin	5,181
Milford	8,211
Olen	7,678
Elwood	20,839
Willard	78,542

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 Murray and names like it

Compare Murray and MurryBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
The most given names of the 1920sMurray peaked in 1922.
New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Murray since 1910.
From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Murray: every such name, by how often it is given.
The top names of 1922The year the most babies were named Murray.
The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Murray alive today were born 1946-1964.
Names starting with MMost given first.

Compare Murray with another name