How Many People Are Named Clay?
An estimated 32,439 people in the United States have the first name Clay. It is predominantly male (99.3%). The average bearer is 40 years old, and Clay peaked in popularity in 1960 with 911 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Clay as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Clay paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Clay is overwhelmingly male, 273 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
32,439
About 1 in 10,566 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.3% confidence
Average Age
40
years old
Peak Year
1960
911 births
Total Registered
40,009
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Clay
Clay is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 40,009 total births registered, 99.3% were male.
Clay as a male name
Ranked #543 in 2024
545 male births in 2024
Peak: 1960 (904 births)
Clay as a female name
Ranked #15,736 in 2024
5 female births in 2024
Peak: 1942 (14 births)
Clay: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Clay span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1990s, when 5,813 babies were registered. While Clay is less common than at its peak in the 1990s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Clay by Decade
How has Clay tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 245 | 245 | 0 | |
| 1890s | 298 | 292 | 6 | |
| 1900s | 323 | 323 | 0 | |
| 1910s | 1,038 | 1,015 | 23 | |
| 1920s | 1,508 | 1,453 | 55 | |
| 1930s | 1,236 | 1,188 | 48 | |
| 1940s | 1,332 | 1,295 | 37 | |
| 1950s | 4,381 | 4,336 | 45 | |
| 1960s | 5,730 | 5,718 | 12 | |
| 1970s | 4,352 | 4,333 | 19 | |
| 1980s | 4,022 | 4,016 | 6 | |
| 1990s | 5,813 | 5,806 | 7 | |
| 2000s | 4,101 | 4,096 | 5 | |
| 2010s | 3,264 | 3,264 | 0 | |
| 2020s | 2,366 | 2,356 | 10 | |
Clay by State
Birth registrations for Clay span all 46 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, Ohio. The lowest are in District of Columbia, Hawaii, Nevada. On average, about 747 Clays were registered per state.
Clay + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Clay as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Clay
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
Clay: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Clay?
We estimate approximately 32,439 people named Clay are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 10,566 Americans share this first name.
Is Clay a common name?
Clay is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.9% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 40,009 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Clay most popular?
Clay reached peak popularity in 1960, when 911 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Clay is approximately 40 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Clay a male name?
Clay is predominantly male. 99.3% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Clay Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Clay Smith, Clay Johnson, Clay Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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