Urey
Of Hebrew origin, meaning "my light" or "flame of God".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Urey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Urey today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Urey births was 1919 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Urey. 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 Urey. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1919
6 babies that year
Average age
-
1919 SSA rank
#4,130
Tracked since 1919
Popularity
Urey: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Urey 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 Urey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Urey
The name Urey is believed to have originated from the Old English surname "Eury", which was derived from the Old English words "eur" meaning "brave" and "ic" meaning "man". This name was primarily used in the Anglo-Saxon regions of England during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Urey can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholders in England completed in 1086 under the orders of William the Conqueror. The name appears as a variant spelling, "Eure", referring to a landowner in the region of Staffordshire.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Urey de Lisle was a prominent English nobleman and landowner who held estates in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. He played a role in the Second Barons' War against King Henry III in the mid-1200s.
During the Renaissance period, a German alchemist and physician named Urey Philipp Ellinger (1492-1557) gained recognition for his contributions to the study of metallurgy and mineral sciences. He authored several treatises on the subject and served as a court physician to various German nobles.
In the 18th century, Urey Makepeace Thackeray (1723-1809) was a notable English author and biographer. He is best known for his work "The History of the Earl of Chatham", a biographical account of William Pitt, the Elder, who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain.
Fast forward to the 20th century, the name Urey gained significant prominence through the American chemist Harold Clayton Urey (1893-1981). He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1934 for his discovery of the heavy hydrogen isotope deuterium. Urey's work laid the foundation for our understanding of isotopic chemistry and played a crucial role in the development of atomic energy.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the given name Urey. While the name may have evolved from its Old English origins, it has maintained a presence across various cultures and time periods, often associated with individuals who made significant contributions to their respective fields.
People
Urey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Urey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with U
Other first names starting with U with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Urey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Urey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Urey 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 - US residents.
Is Urey a common name?
We classify Urey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Urey most popular?
The single biggest year for Urey was 1919, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Urey is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Urey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Urey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Urey 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 Urey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Urey 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 Urey 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Urey as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Urey on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.