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
Living On Own Means 443
General Labourer 404
Dress Maker 282
General Servant Domestic 264
Scholar 210
Coal Miner Hewer 169
Farmer 155
Domestic Servant 140
Cook Domestic 134
Carpenter 113
Housemaid Domestic 103
Laundress Wash 96
Charwoman 94
Agricultural Labourer 92
Bricklayer 90
School 81
Gardener Domestic 80
House Maid Domestic 79
At School 78
Cotton Weaver 77
Dressmaker 71
House Painter 71
Ordinary Agricultural Labourer 67
Tailor 66
Tailoress 65

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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