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 4,884
Agricultural Labourer 475
Coal Miner 444
General Labourer 439
Domestic Servant 277
Dress Maker 262
Living On Own Means 256
Labourer 238
General Servant Domestic 175
Living On Her Own Means 162
Farm Labourer 156
Laundress 143
Farmer 141
General Servant 131
Gardener 105
Clerk 100
Carpenter 98
Joiner 98
House Keeper 91
Blacksmith 91
Tailor 87
Cotton Weaver 81
Grocer 72
General Domestic Servant 70
Tailoress 70

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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