Gray Name Origin, Meaning and Family History

Gray Name Meaning: From the nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard.

From the Old English \"graeg\", meaning \"gray\", this was used as a nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard. The distinction between the spellings (British \"grey\" and US \"gray\") developed in the 20th Century.

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Surname Distribution

Census frequency by county

Name Concentrations Within England and Wales

Gray Surname Statistics


Top Professions for the Gray family

Profession Census Frequency
Scholar 3,948
Agricultural Labourer 582
Labourer 432
Domestic Servant 237
Coal Miner 216
Dress Maker 190
General Servant 189
Annuitant 128
Laundress 128
Servant 123
Ag Labourer 113
Carpenter 110
Gardener 109
Tailor 105
House Keeper 101
Blacksmith 85
Farm Labourer 85
Dressmaker 67
Shoe Maker 63
Farm Servant 62
Cotton Weaver 58
Miner 58
General Servant Domestic 56
Wife Of Above 55
Nurse 55

Gray Surname Variants Ranking

Rank Surname Match Census Frequency
1 Gray 100% 210,083
2 Grey 75% 43,115
3 Geary 60% 15,928
4 Gary 50% 1,867
5 Garey 60% 1,488
6 Gorey 60% 1,122
7 Gury 50% 1,007
8 Gearey 50% 621
9 Gery 50% 461
10 Greey 60% 212
11 Groy 75% 204
12 Gory 50% 200
13 Greay 80% 190
14 Gry 75% 123
15 Geory 40% 107

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The surname Gray is the most popular version of all its varients

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