Bay
A unisex name originating from English, meaning "inlet of water".
Name Census estimates that about 696 living Americans carry the first name Bay. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 71.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Bay today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bay births was 2013 (81 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bay. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
696
~ 1 in 492,463 Americans
Peak year
2013
81 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,954
Tracked since 1916
Gender
Gender distribution for Bay
Bay is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 719 total registrations, 203 (28.2%) were male and 516 (71.8%) were female.
Bay as a male name
- Ranked #11,071 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2013 (11 births)
Bay as a female name
- Ranked #6,954 in 2024
- 16 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (75 births)
Popularity
Bay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bay from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 427 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bay by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bays live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Bay, while Indiana, New York, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bay
The name Bay has its origins in the Old English word "bæg," which means "berry" or "fruit." It is derived from the Proto-Germanic "*bagiz," which is related to the Proto-Indo-European root "*bhag-," meaning "to share out" or "to divide." The name Bay was initially used as a surname, referring to someone who lived near a berry patch or a place where berries grew abundantly.
In ancient times, the name Bay was not widely used as a given name. However, there are references to it in Old English literature, such as the poem "Beowulf," where it appears as a surname or a descriptive term for someone associated with berries or fruit.
The earliest recorded use of Bay as a first name dates back to the 17th century. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Bay Psammeticus, an English writer and translator born in 1657. Another notable figure was Bay Whitehead (1654-1725), an English politician and member of Parliament.
In the 18th century, Bay became a more common given name, particularly among the Quakers in England and the United States. One prominent individual with this name was Bay Bolton (1725-1808), an American Quaker minister and abolitionist.
The 19th century saw an increase in the popularity of the name Bay, with several notable individuals bearing this moniker. Bay Stannard Baker (1884-1965) was an American journalist and author who served as the United States Secretary of War during World War I. Bay Wright (1888-1976) was an American mathematician and statistician known for her contributions to the field of statistics.
In the 20th century, the name Bay continued to be used, albeit less frequently than in previous centuries. Bay van der Poel (1911-1991) was a Dutch writer and journalist who wrote under the pen name Bay van der Poel. Bay Buchanan (born 1952) is an American political commentator and former campaign manager for her brother Pat Buchanan's presidential campaigns.
While the name Bay has its roots in Old English and has been used throughout history, it has remained relatively uncommon as a first name. Nonetheless, it has been borne by individuals from various fields, including literature, politics, journalism, and mathematics.
People
Bay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bay as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 696 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bay going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 492,463 US residents.
Is Bay a common name?
We classify Bay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 719 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bay most popular?
The single biggest year for Bay was 2013, when 81 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bay is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bay a female name?
Yes, 71.8% of people registered as Bay in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.