Geneanet > Resources > Family Names > GRAY

Origin and popularity of the name GRAY

Origin

Gray : 1: English Scottish and Irish (especially Eastern Ulster; of Norman origin): habitational name from Graye in Calvados France named from the Gallo-Roman personal name Graec(i)us meaning ‘Greek’ + the locative suffix -acum. This is probably the chief source of the surname in Britain.2: English: nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray beard from Middle English grey (Old English grǣg grēg) ‘gray’. In Ireland it has been used as a translation of various Gaelic surnames derived from riabhach ‘brindled gray’ including Mac Giolla Riabhaigh; see McGreevy. In North America this surname has assimilated names with similar meaning from other languages.3: French: habitational name from Gray in Haute-Saône or Le Gray in Seine-Maritime.

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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 222,272 individuals with the name GRAY on Geneanet.

 

Most found places for the name GRAY:

    This last name in the family trees

    See below the Geneanet members' family trees which contain the last name GRAY

    cathycessna
    (1,392 individuals)
    kgoggin
    (932 individuals)
    cartercousins2022
    (867 individuals)
    wbuchanan
    (800 individuals)

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    Variants of name GRAY

    GREY GREYS GRÉE GRAIS GRES GREI GRET