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Grey

Color name
"the son of the bailiff"
Clare Green
By Clare Green
Updated Tue Sep 30 2025

Grey Origin and Meaning

The name Grey is a boy's name.

The girls have Violet and Scarlet and Ruby and Rose, but for the boys there's a much more limited palette of color names. Grey/Gray is one exception, which could make for a soft and evocative—if slightly somber—choice, especially in the middle. Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney named their son Leo Grey.

A common surname, Grey/Gray is still an unusual first name choice (it entered the Top 1000 for the first time in 2013), while longer forms Grayson and Greyson are climbing rapidly. Grey is a color associated with the sign of Virgo, so Grey, Gray, and Grayson are perfect names for Virgo babies.

The best known bearer of the name, former Governor Gray Davis of California, was born Joseph Graham Davis, Jr, and others with Grey/Gray names include Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair, and Grayer, the child in The Nanny Diaries.

It's worth noting the connection to Christian Grey, of E. L. James's Fifty Shades of Grey. Do with that what you will.

# 876 in the US

Grey Rank in US Top 1000

# 800 on Nameberry

Grey Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Popularity of the name Grey

20 Names Similar to Grey

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Grey.

Famous People Named Grey

  • Grey Damon
    American actor
  • Grey Gowrie (born Alexander Patrick Greysteil Ruthven)
    2nd Earl of Gowrie, Scottish politician
  • Grey Gardner
    son of British sports agent Dave Gardner
  • Grey Douglas Stuber (b. 2017)
    son of Molly Sims and Scott Stuber

The name Grey in Pop Culture

  • Christian Grey
    main character in "50 Shades of Grey," book/film series
  • Gandalf the Grey
    character in Lord of the Rings
  • "Grey's Anatomy
    " TV show
  • "Grey Gardens
    " documentary and movie
  • Earl Grey
    tea

The name Grey in Nameberry Blog Posts