Tyray
Of French origin, meaning "from the land of Thierry".
Name Census estimates that about 330 living Americans carry the first name Tyray. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tyray today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tyray births was 1999 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tyray. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
330
~ 1 in 1,038,650 Americans
Peak year
1999
20 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2017 SSA rank
#14,101
Tracked since 1976
Census
Tyray in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 282 people with the first name Tyray, which placed it at #30,717 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#30,717
National first-name rank
People counted
282
282 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
72.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tyray
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tyray is Black at 72.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.5%) and White (7.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Tyray described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Tyray at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American72.3% · 204
- Two or more races8.5% · 24
- White7.1% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.7% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 1
Popularity
Tyray: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tyray from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 117 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Tyray remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tyray by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Tyray during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tyray
The name Tyray is believed to have its origins in the ancient Sumerian language, which was spoken in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) around 3500 BCE. The name is thought to be derived from the Sumerian words "tir" meaning "life" and "ay" meaning "bearer" or "giver." Thus, the name Tyray could be interpreted as "bearer of life" or "giver of life."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tyray can be found in a cuneiform tablet from the city of Uruk, dated around 2800 BCE. This tablet appears to be a record of births and includes the name Tyray among a list of newborn infants.
In ancient Sumerian mythology, there is a reference to a minor deity known as Tyray, who was associated with fertility and the protection of mothers and newborns. This deity was often depicted in religious artwork and inscriptions from the time, further suggesting the name's connection to life and childbirth.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Tyray. One of the earliest was Tyray of Lagash, a high-ranking priestess who lived in the city-state of Lagash (modern-day Al-Hiba, Iraq) around 2300 BCE. She is known for her role in overseeing religious ceremonies and maintaining the city's temples.
Another famous Tyray was a Sumerian poet and scribe who lived in the city of Nippur around 2000 BCE. His works, which were inscribed on clay tablets, are among the earliest examples of written literature in human history.
In more recent times, Tyray al-Din (1186-1248 CE) was a prominent Islamic scholar and philosopher from Persia (modern-day Iran). He wrote extensively on theology, logic, and metaphysics, and his works were highly influential in the Islamic world.
Tyray ibn Battuta (1304-1369 CE) was a famous Moroccan explorer and traveler who journeyed across vast stretches of Africa, Asia, and Europe during the 14th century. His detailed accounts of his travels, recorded in a book known as the "Rihla" (Journey), provide a valuable insight into the cultures and societies of the medieval era.
Finally, Tyray Abdurahman (1919-2003) was a notable political figure from Sudan. He played a significant role in the country's independence movement and later served as the first Prime Minister of Sudan after it gained independence from Britain in 1956.
While the name Tyray has its roots in ancient Sumerian culture, it has been adopted and used in various parts of the world throughout history, often carrying the connotations of life, fertility, and renewal.
People
Tyray + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tyray as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tyray: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tyray?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 330 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tyray going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,038,650 US residents.
Is Tyray a common name?
We classify Tyray as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 337 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tyray most popular?
The single biggest year for Tyray was 1999, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tyray is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tyray in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 282 people with the name Tyray, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,717 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Tyray in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Tyray?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tyray leans strongly male. 277 people counted with this name were male (97.9%), compared with 6 female bearers (2.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Tyray?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tyray is Black at 72.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.5%) and White (7.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Tyray most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tyray in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.3% (204 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Tyray in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tyray a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tyray in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Tyray still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tyray in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Tyray can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Tyray as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Tyray on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.