Wray
English surname from a dialect word meaning "corner" or "nook".
Name Census estimates that about 378 living Americans carry the first name Wray. It is a predominantly male name (97.4% of registrations). The average person named Wray today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wray births was 1927 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wray. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Wray with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Wray is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Wrays were born before 1967.
People living today
378
~ 1 in 906,758 Americans
Peak year
1927
28 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
1989 SSA rank
#8,181
Tracked since 1906
Census
Wray in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 572 people with the first name Wray, which placed it at #18,742 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
#18,742
National first-name rank
People counted
572
572 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wray
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wray is White at 83.7%. The next largest groups are Black (10.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.3%). 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 Wray 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 Wray at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.7% · 479
- Black or African American10.1% · 58
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino1.9% · 11
- Two or more races1.0% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Wray
Wray leans heavily male at 97.4% of total registrations, but 23 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Wray as a male name
- Ranked #9,196 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1927 (28 births)
Wray as a female name
- Ranked #8,181 in 1968
- 5 female births in 1968
- Peak: 1958 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wray leans strongly male. 485 people counted with this name were male (85.4%), compared with 83 female bearers (14.6%).
Popularity
Wray: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wray from the 1900s through to the 1980s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 160 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Wray 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 Wray during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wrays live
Origin
Meaning and history of Wray
The name Wray is of Old English origin, derived from the word "wrae," which means a corner or nook. It was initially used as a surname, referring to someone who lived in a remote or secluded area.
The name Wray can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period, around the 5th to 11th centuries. It was commonly found in areas of England such as Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cheshire, where the surname was prominent.
While the name Wray does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been documented in historical records and literature from medieval England. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name is in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it is listed as a place name.
The first notable individual with the name Wray was Sir Christopher Wray (1524-1592), an English judge and Lord Chief Justice of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Another prominent figure was Sir William Wray (1555-1617), an English politician and member of parliament.
In the 17th century, Leonard Wray (1624-1689) was an English botanist and clergyman, known for his contributions to the study of plants. Later, in the 18th century, Thomas Wray (1736-1823) was an English engineer and inventor, credited with developing a cast-iron bridge design.
Moving into the 19th century, Fanny Wray (1820-1905) was a British writer and philanthropist, known for her efforts in promoting education and social reforms. Towards the end of the century, James Wray (1861-1928) was an English footballer who played for several clubs, including Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the first name Wray, demonstrating its long-standing presence and diverse backgrounds.
People
Wray + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wray as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Wray: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wray?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 378 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wray 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 906,758 US residents.
Is Wray a common name?
We classify Wray as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 882 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wray most popular?
The single biggest year for Wray was 1927, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wray is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wray in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 572 people with the name Wray, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,742 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 Wray 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 Wray?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wray leans strongly male. 485 people counted with this name were male (85.4%), compared with 83 female bearers (14.6%). 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 Wray?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wray is White at 83.7%. The next largest groups are Black (10.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.3%). 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 Wray most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wray in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.7% (479 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 Wray in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wray a male name?
Yes, 97.4% of people registered as Wray 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 Wray still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wray 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 Wray 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 share the name Wray?
Want to know how many Americans are named Wray? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.