as a First Name
Short form of Raymond, now also used as an independent given name, especially in North America. In some instances it may represent a transferred use of the surname Ray, which for the most part originated as a nickname, from Old French rei, roi ‘king’ (compare Roy and Leroy).
| 280th in the U.S. for 2011 |
Nicknames & variations
Quick facts
- Hundreds of thousands
- of people in the U.S have this name
- 220,264
- to be exact (as of February 2011)
- Arkansas
- has the most people named Ray per capita
- 1932
- marked the height of its popularity
0.38%
99.62%
57%
55+
55+
32%
30-54
30-54
6%
13-29
13-29
5%
0-12
0-12
Top state populations
U.S. Distribution Map
