How Many People Are Named Ray?
An estimated 96,943 people in the United States have the first name Ray. It is predominantly male (97.3%). The average bearer is 61 years old, and Ray peaked in popularity in 1926 with 3,529 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Ray 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 Ray paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Ray is overwhelmingly male, 5,586 female births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
96,943
About 1 in 3,536 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
97.3% confidence
Average Age
61
years old
Peak Year
1926
3,529 births
Total Registered
209,970
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Ray
Ray is predominantly male (97.3%), though 5,586 female births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Ray as a male name
Ranked #779 in 2024
322 male births in 2024
Peak: 1926 (3,409 births)
Ray as a female name
Ranked #4,978 in 2024
27 female births in 2024
Peak: 1918 (162 births)
Ray: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Ray span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 33,190 babies were registered. Ray has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Ray by Decade
How has Ray 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 | 2,564 | 2,371 | 193 | |
| 1890s | 4,127 | 3,763 | 364 | |
| 1900s | 4,630 | 4,256 | 374 | |
| 1910s | 18,825 | 17,792 | 1,033 | |
| 1920s | 33,190 | 32,045 | 1,145 | |
| 1930s | 30,880 | 30,211 | 669 | |
| 1940s | 30,086 | 29,655 | 431 | |
| 1950s | 30,347 | 29,914 | 433 | |
| 1960s | 22,467 | 22,185 | 282 | |
| 1970s | 10,279 | 10,079 | 200 | |
| 1980s | 7,950 | 7,838 | 112 | |
| 1990s | 5,465 | 5,401 | 64 | |
| 2000s | 3,934 | 3,894 | 40 | |
| 2010s | 3,480 | 3,365 | 115 | |
| 2020s | 1,746 | 1,615 | 131 | |
Ray by State
Birth registrations for Ray span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, Pennsylvania. The lowest are in Rhode Island, Delaware, Alaska. On average, about 3,779 Rays were registered per state.
Ray + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Ray as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Ray
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
Ray: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ray?
We estimate approximately 96,943 people named Ray 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 3,536 Americans share this first name.
Is Ray a common name?
Ray is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 99.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 209,970 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Ray most popular?
Ray reached peak popularity in 1926, when 3,529 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Ray is approximately 61 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Ray a male name?
Ray is predominantly male. 97.3% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Ray Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Ray Smith, Ray Johnson, Ray 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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