Lay
A short form of the feminine French name Laure, meaning "laurel plant crown".
Name Census estimates that about 24 living Americans carry the first name Lay. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Lay today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lay births was 2014 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lay. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Lay. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
24
~ 1 in 14,281,431 Americans
Peak year
2014
12 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2016 SSA rank
#10,300
Tracked since 1918
Census
Lay in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,594 people with the first name Lay, which placed it at #8,924 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,924
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,594 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
76.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lay
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lay is Asian/Pacific Islander at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Black (10.9%) and White (6.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Lay described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Lay at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander76.9% · 1,226
- Black or African American10.9% · 173
- White6.1% · 97
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 71
- Two or more races1.3% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Lay
Lay is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 40 total registrations, 28 (70.0%) were male and 12 (30.0%) were female.
Lay as a male name
- Ranked #10,300 in 2016
- 7 male births in 2016
- Peak: 2016 (7 births)
Lay as a female name
- Ranked #17,717 in 2016
- 5 female births in 2016
- Peak: 2014 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lay on both sides of the split. Of the 1,595 people counted with this name, 621 were male (38.9%) and 974 were female (61.1%).
Popularity
Lay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lay from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 24 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lay 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 Lay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lay
The given name Lay has its roots in the Old English language, originating from the word "leah," which means a meadow, clearing, or open field. This name was particularly prevalent in England during the Anglo-Saxon period, which lasted from the 5th to the 11th centuries.
The name Lay was initially used as a topographic surname, referring to someone who lived near or in a meadow or clearing. Over time, it transitioned into a given name, likely due to its pleasant and natural association with the outdoors and pastoral landscapes.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lay can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions several individuals with the name Lay, indicating its usage at that time.
In religious texts, the name Lay does not appear to have any significant references or associations. However, it was likely influenced by the Old English pagan beliefs that revered nature and the natural world.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lay. One of the earliest examples is Lay de Freine, a 12th-century Anglo-Norman nobleman and landowner in England. Another prominent figure was Lay de Vitri, a 13th-century French prelate and chronicler who served as the Bishop of Meaux.
In the realm of literature, Lay du Paraclit was a 12th-century French poet and author of religious works. His name is derived from the Paraclete Abbey, where he resided and wrote.
During the Middle Ages, Lay de Froimont was a renowned French troubadour and composer of lyric poetry in the 13th century. His works are considered significant contributions to the development of medieval music and literature.
In more recent times, Lay Tuan Mu was a 19th-century Chinese painter and calligrapher from the Qing Dynasty. He was known for his landscape paintings and skilled calligraphic techniques, which influenced the development of modern Chinese art.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Lay, showcasing its enduring presence and the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of those who bore it.
People
Lay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lay as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 24 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lay 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 14,281,431 US residents.
Is Lay a common name?
We classify Lay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 40 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lay most popular?
The single biggest year for Lay was 2014, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lay is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lay in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,594 people with the name Lay, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,924 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Lay in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Lay?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lay on both sides of the split. Of the 1,595 people counted with this name, 621 were male (38.9%) and 974 were female (61.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Lay?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lay is Asian/Pacific Islander at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Black (10.9%) and White (6.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Lay most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Lay in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.9% (1,226 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Lay in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lay a male name?
Yes, 70.0% of people registered as Lay in the SSA data are male. 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.
Is Lay still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lay in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Lay can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people are called Lay?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.