2000
#79
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 236,713
First available Census row
Per 100,000 87.75
Common Last name
Gray
A toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near a gray-colored feature, such as a road or hill.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 276,599 Americans carry the last name Gray. That puts it at #89 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 80.70 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 1,239 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Gray surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Gray with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
277K
1 in 1,239
Census rank
#89
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
80.7
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
241K
common in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 241,208 bearers of the surname Gray in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 80.70 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 89th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Gray, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.9%. The next largest groups are Black (24.6%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Gray
The surname Gray is an Anglo-Saxon name that originated in England. It is derived from the Old English word "graeg," which means "gray" or "grey." The name likely referred to someone with gray hair or a person who wore gray clothing.
Gray is a locational surname, meaning it may have originated from a place name. One possible place of origin is the village of Gray in Northumberland, England. The name was first recorded in this area in the 13th century.
The surname Gray can also be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was recorded as "Graeus" and "Graus." This suggests that the name was well-established in England before the Norman Conquest of 1066.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Gray is found in the Pipe Rolls of Northumberland in 1195, where a man named William Gray is mentioned. Another early record is from the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire in 1273, which lists a person named Richard le Gray.
The Gray surname has been associated with several notable figures throughout history. One of the most prominent was Sir Thomas Gray (c. 1369-1415), an English nobleman who served as a soldier and diplomat during the Hundred Years' War.
Another notable individual was Walter de Gray (c. 1085-1155), an English churchman who served as Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England under King Henry II.
In the literary world, Thomas Gray (1716-1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, and scholar, best known for his poem "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard."
The Gray family also played a significant role in American history. Samuel Gray (1696-1768) was a prominent merchant and politician in Massachusetts during the colonial era.
Edgar Gray (1908-1988) was an American anthropologist and archaeologist who made significant contributions to the study of Native American cultures in the southwestern United States.
The surname Gray has undergone various spellings throughout history, including Graye, Greye, Graye, and Grai. It is also found in various place names, such as Grayshott in Hampshire, England, and Grays in Essex, England.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gray
Among Census respondents with the surname Gray, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.9%. The next largest groups are Black (24.6%) and Two or More Races (4.6%).
The bar chart below shows how Gray bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Gray surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.9% · 159,031
- Black or African American24.6% · 59,222
- Two or more races4.6% · 10,995
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 8,282
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2,013
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 1,665
Timeline
Historical Census data for Gray
Gray appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#87
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 246,116
+9,403 bearers (+4.0%)
Per 100,000 83.44
Rank movement Down 8 places
2020
#89
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 241,208
-4,908 bearers (-2.0%)
Per 100,000 80.70
Rank movement Down 2 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #79 | 236,713 | 87.75 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #87 | 246,116 | 83.44 | +9,403 bearers (+4.0%) | Down 8 places |
| 2020 | #89 | 241,208 | 80.70 | -4,908 bearers (-2.0%) | Down 2 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Gray surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #87 | #89 | -2.3% |
| Count | 246,116 | 241,208 | -2.0% |
| Per 100K | 83.44 | 80.70 | -3.3% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Gray bearers went from 246,116 to 241,208 (-2.0% change). The surname moved down 2 positions in the national ranking, going from #87 to #89.
Notable bearers
Famous people with the surname Gray
FAQ
Gray surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Gray?
Name Census estimates that about 276,599 living Americans carry the surname Gray. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 1,239 residents.
How common is Gray?
Gray ranks #89 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Common." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 80.70 per 100,000 residents, which is about 81 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 241,208 people with the surname Gray. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (276,599), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 80.7 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 80.70 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 81 of them to have the surname Gray.
Has Gray become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Gray went from 246,116 recorded bearers to 241,208. That is a decrease of 4,908 (-2.0%). In the national ranking it fell from #87 to #89.
What does the Census say about the background of Gray?
Among Census respondents with the surname Gray, the largest self-reported group is White at 65.9%. The next largest groups are Black (24.6%) and Two or More Races (4.6%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Gray in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.9% (159,031 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Gray appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (65.9%), Black (24.6%), Two or More Races (4.6%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Gray (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Gray mean?
A toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near a gray-colored feature, such as a road or hill. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Gray (80.70 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Gray?
If you just want to know how many people are called Gray, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.