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
School 4,126
Farm Labourer 322
Private Means 290
General Labourer 286
Coal Miner Hewer 257
Labourer 250
General Servant (domestic) 199
Dressmaker 185
None 177
Clerk 162
Farmer 151
Domestic Servant 148
At School 119
Shop Assistant 113
At Home 109
Scholar 109
Laundress 106
Bricklayer 101
House Painter 95
General Servant Domestic 92
House Keeper 92
Carpenter 91
Housekeeper 91
Carman 82
Joiner 78

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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