Clay
2025 SSA
Below 5 births
About Clay
Clay is a rich, earthy one-syllable name with a southern-inflected handsome-rogue image, featured on soap operas and reality TV. Its longer forms are Clayton and Clayborne.
Clay for boys#573 US
There have been TV characters called Clay on The Wire, Sons of Anarchy, and 13 Reasons Why, and the name's most prominent recent bearers are American Idol Clay (born Clayton) Aiken and Green Bay Packer linebacker Clay (born William Clay) Matthews.
Clay for girls
Clay is an earthy name given to more than 500 baby boys in the US last year, and zero baby girls. But there's no reason it can't work for any gender. Rosie O'Donnell's youngest child, who is nonbinary, changed their name from Dakota to Clay, definitely a cooler choice.
Pronounced CLAY.
As of October 2026, Clay ranked #573 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #259 in 1961, Nameberry popularity #745.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · boys | Births · boys | US rank · girls | Births · girls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #841 | 269 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #720 | 342 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #725 | 338 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #694 | 355 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #688 | 353 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #682 | 376 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #643 | 417 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #617 | 451 | — | 0 |
| 2022 | #619 | 451 | — | 0 |
| 2023 | #581 | 492 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #543 | 545 | — | 0 |
| 2025 | #573 | 515 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Clay.
Clay on lists
Famous Clays
- Clayton Allen "Clay" HensleyBoy
American baseball player
- Clayton Holmes "Clay" AikenBoy
American pop singer, TV personality, and politician
- (William) Clay Matthews Jr. and IIIBoy
American NFL football players
- Ernest Clayton "Clay" WalkerBoy
American country music singer
- Clay Daniel BuchholzBoy
American baseball player
- Douglas "Clay" CookBoy
American country musician of the Zac Brown Band
- Gianclaudio Giuseppe "Clay" RegazzoniBoy
Swiss racing driver
- Clay GreenbushBoy
American actor
- Clay HoneycuttBoy
contestant on "Big Brother" season 17
- Clay HartBoy
American singer/guitarist from "The Lawrence Welk Show"
- Clay Clement (born Claudius Geiger)Boy
American stage, film, and TV actor
- ClayBoy
Minecraft YouTube personality who goes by “Dream”
- Laura ClayGirl
Co-founder and first president of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association
Clay in pop culture
- Clayton "Clay" EvansBoy
character on TV's "One Tree Hill"
- Clay BaileyBoy
character in animated series "Xiaolin Showdown"
- Clay MorrowBoy
character on TV's "Sons of Anarchy"
- Caduceus ClayBoy
character in Critical Role
- Clay SimonsBoy
character in video game "Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned"
- Clay JensenBoy
main character in "13 Reasons Why" by Jay Asher
- ClayBoy
main character in Bret Easton Ellis' "Less Than Zero"
- Clay ClemmensBoy
character on TV's "The New Normal"
- ClayBoy
Gym Leader in the Pokemon video games
- ClayBoy
character in anime "Soul Eater Not!'
- Clay TerranBoy
character in video game series "Ace Attorney"
- Clay PuffingtonBoy
main character in animated series "Moral Orel"
- Clay HaasBoy
character in TV's "Quantico"
- Clay KaczmarekBoy
character in video game series "Assassin's Creed"
- ClayBoy
dragon character in children's literature series Wings Of Fire
- "Clay"Girl
Song by Grace Vanderwaal featured on "Perfectly Imperfect"