Ray
2025 SSA
2025 SSA
About Ray
Simple, short, and cool, Ray gives off retro vibes thanks to its 20th century popularity, and its links to jazzy Ray Charles and Ray-Ban sunglasses. A popular middle name for boys, it is well established as a given name too.
Ray for boys#792 US
Derived from the Germanic Raymond, it means "wise protector", but it could also be seen as a word name, with ties to nature and science, as in a ray of light, a sun ray, a sting ray, or an X-ray.
The list of noteworthy Rays who have brought glory to their nickname name goes on forever—Bradbury, Romano, Milland (born Alfred), Liotta, and Goulding, to name just a few. Ray might still be short for Raymond or a more unusual formal name such as Rainier or Rayford, but it can also stand on its own.
In the US, it has seriously declined in use since its 20th century popularity and now sits at the latter end of the charts. At least 300 boys still receive the name each year however, and the longer form Raymond remains in the Top 400.
Ray for girls#6274 US
Most female Rays used to spell their names Rae, but now the Ray Charles, ray-of-sunshine way is cool for both genders.
Ray was used for 26 baby girls last year in the US - compared to over 300 boys. The Rae spelling is flipped, with almost 200 girls and a handful of boys. Ray is better appreciated as a sleek and simple middle name option - think Miley Ray Cyrus.
Pronounced RAY.
As of October 2026, Ray ranked #792 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #49 in 1891, Nameberry popularity #358.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank · boys | Births · boys | US rank · girls | Births · girls |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #728 | 329 | — | 0 |
| 2015 | #713 | 348 | — | 0 |
| 2016 | #753 | 324 | — | 0 |
| 2017 | #769 | 306 | — | 0 |
| 2018 | #728 | 330 | — | 0 |
| 2019 | #736 | 328 | — | 0 |
| 2020 | #725 | 343 | — | 0 |
| 2021 | #843 | 282 | #4,926 | 27 |
| 2022 | #762 | 332 | #4,763 | 29 |
| 2023 | #765 | 336 | — | 0 |
| 2024 | #779 | 322 | #4,978 | 27 |
| 2025 | #792 | 319 | — | 0 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 40 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Ray.
Similar boy names
Similar girl names
Ray on lists
Famous Rays
- Raymond Albert "Ray" RomanoBoy
American actor and comedian
- Ray ToroBoy
American musician and guitarist
- Ray CharlesBoy
American musician
- Ray MillandBoy
Welsh actor
- Ray BradburyBoy
American author
- Ray EdwardsBoy
American football player
- Ray LewisBoy
American football player
- Ray RiceBoy
American football player
- Ray BolgerBoy
American actor known for the Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz
- Stephen "Stevie" Ray VaughnBoy
American singer,songwriter
- Billy Ray CyrusBoy
American musician and starred in Disney's Hannah Montana
- Ray DaviesBoy
English musician and The Kinks frontman
- Ray Ling SongGirl
daughter of American journalist Lisa Ling
- Miley Ray CyrusGirl
American singer/actress
- Mabel Ray (b. 2012)Girl
daughter of actor Bruce Willis
- Alexa Ray JoelGirl
daughter of singer,songwriter Billy Joel
Ray in pop culture
- Robby Ray StewartBoy
character in series "Hannah Montana"
- Ray BrowerBoy
unseen character in the film "Stand By Me" based on the novella "The Body" by Stephen King
- RayBoy
character from the "Left Behind" series
- RayBoy
character in series one and two of "Girls" (Lena Dunham)
- Ray BrennanBoy
from TV series "Las Vegas"
- Ray StantzBoy
character in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, played by Dan Aykroyd
- Ray Crisp/CarterBoy
character in Marvel Universe
- Ray BronsonBoy
from movie "I Know What You Did Last Summer"
- Ray WilkinsBoy
character from Scary Movie
- Ray Palmer aka AtomBoy
character in DC Universe
- RayBoy
character in the film "Hidden"
- Mr. RayBoy
spotted eagle ray in Pixar's "Finding Nemo" and "Finding Dory"
- Ray DimeoBoy
awkward nerdy son from TV series 'Speechless'
- RayBoy
the name of one of the personalities of a character from visual novel game "Mystic Messenger"
- Ray FerrierBoy
lead character in 2005 film "War of the Worlds"
- RayBoy
main character in the manga/anime series "The Promised Neverland"