Ray

Primarily a boy's name · 97% boys

Meaning

Ray is a given name and short form of the given name Raymond and Rachel.

From Wikipedia

Ray first appears in the data in 1880 and has been recorded in 145 different years as a boy's name. Its single biggest year was 1926 with 3,409 babies (rank #57 that year). In 2024 it was given to 322 boys (rank #779). Its popularity has been fairly steady recently.

Numerology of Ray

In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Ray yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.

8Destiny numberThe achieverDriven, capable, comfortable wielding influence.Sum of every letter. The overall character a name carries.
8Soul urgeThe achieverDriven, capable, comfortable wielding influence.Sum of the vowels — what's said to drive the heart.
9PersonalityThe humanitarianIdealistic, compassionate, thinks in big-picture terms.Sum of the consonants — the outer impression.

209,970

Total babies (all years)

145

Years in the data

3,409

Peak in a single year

Popularity Over Time — Boys

Famous people named Ray

Ray Bradburywriter · b. 1920
Ray Krocrestaurateur · b. 1902
Ray Clemenceassociation football player · b. 1948
Ray Stevensonfilm actor · b. 1964
Ray Winstonefilm actor · b. 1957

Share your Ray story

Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.

More popular boys' names

Names ranked near Ray in 2024

Other boys' names starting with R

Year-by-Year Detail

Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.

Year	Babies	Rank
1880	142	#95
1881	148	#87
1882	195	#83
1883	202	#78
1884	232	#77
1885	237	#74
1886	271	#67
1887	258	#66
1888	331	#63
1889	355	#54
1890	349	#56
1891	360	#49
1892	385	#57
1893	378	#56
1894	379	#57
1895	380	#56
1896	426	#50
1897	397	#52
1898	394	#56
1899	315	#61
1900	457	#55
1901	338	#59
1902	391	#57
1903	397	#55
1904	432	#55
1905	424	#60
1906	421	#60
1907	475	#60
1908	446	#67
1909	475	#67
1910	545	#68
1911	602	#71
1912	1,050	#77
1913	1,328	#73
1914	1,657	#74
1915	2,365	#67
1916	2,334	#73
1917	2,426	#74
1918	2,763	#69
1919	2,722	#69
1920	3,086	#67
1921	3,075	#67
1922	3,051	#65
1923	3,161	#61
1924	3,369	#60
1925	3,219	#64
1926	3,409	#57
1927	3,253	#60
1928	3,248	#57
1929	3,174	#57
1930	3,253	#57
1931	3,161	#60
1932	3,264	#59
1933	3,033	#62
1934	3,176	#63
1935	3,070	#64
1936	2,939	#65
1937	2,725	#71
1938	2,881	#72
1939	2,709	#74
1940	2,795	#77
1941	2,695	#83
1942	3,066	#84
1943	3,063	#84
1944	2,904	#86
1945	2,740	#92
1946	3,170	#95
1947	3,378	#97
1948	3,134	#100
1949	2,710	#109
1950	2,636	#111
1951	2,678	#114
1952	2,690	#113
1953	2,815	#115
1954	2,977	#118
1955	3,069	#113
1956	3,230	#113
1957	3,409	#111
1958	3,189	#121
1959	3,221	#121
1960	3,080	#121
1961	2,920	#126
1962	2,675	#132
1963	2,584	#131
1964	2,277	#143
1965	2,092	#147
1966	1,826	#155
1967	1,616	#165
1968	1,593	#170
1969	1,522	#182
1970	1,462	#186
1971	1,267	#196
1972	1,178	#197
1973	1,046	#207
1974	955	#220
1975	897	#228
1976	850	#238
1977	807	#251
1978	793	#257
1979	824	#258
1980	844	#261
1981	855	#256
1982	867	#254
1983	764	#272
1984	766	#272
1985	768	#271
1986	738	#285
1987	770	#283
1988	744	#305
1989	722	#326
1990	755	#329
1991	695	#349
1992	582	#395
1993	562	#413
1994	564	#405
1995	495	#456
1996	445	#484
1997	443	#483
1998	446	#489
1999	414	#513
2000	435	#516
2001	360	#573
2002	377	#580
2003	336	#618
2004	391	#578
2005	420	#563
2006	451	#557
2007	384	#633
2008	374	#653
2009	366	#670
2010	364	#660
2011	346	#682
2012	327	#719
2013	363	#666
2014	329	#728
2015	348	#713
2016	324	#753
2017	306	#769
2018	330	#728
2019	328	#736
2020	343	#725
2021	282	#843
2022	332	#762
2023	336	#765
2024	322	#779