Ray
Pronounced R EY1 (ARPABET)
- 1 syllable
- Peaked 1957
- 145 years in use
- 5 spellings
How popular is Ray?
Ray is a boys' name, and has been in the record since the data starts in 1880. It has been given to 216,528 children — the 174th most common boys' name on record.
Its use has been broadly flat across the past two decades. Its best single year was 1957, when 3,478 children were given it.
Five other spellings are counted in that total — Rey, Rae, Wray and two more — because they are pronounced identically.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Ray and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Rey
- Rae
- Wray
- Raye
- Rea
Nicknames
Ray is itself a short form of Raymond.
Characteristics
- 1 syllable
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- R EY1
- Stress pattern:
- 1
- Syllables:
- 1
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Ray
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Ray
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Ray?
- Ray ranks 174th among boys' names in US records, with 216,528 births since 1880. Over the past decade it accounts for 6,259.
- Is Ray a unisex name?
- No. Ray is recorded almost entirely as a boys' name; births to the other gender are too few to register as a share.
- When was Ray most popular?
- 1957, when 3,478 children were given the name. It has been in use for 145 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Ray spelled?
- Rey, Rae, Wray, Raye, Rea. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.