Billy Ray
There are approximately 93 people named Billy Ray living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 3,685,531 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Billy with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Ray. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
93
1 in 3,685,531
Named Billy
214K
Alive today
Named Ray
149K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 214K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1934
Average age: 63
Top Census group: White (77.2%)
Estimated bearers: 149K
Rarity: Common
Census rank: #219
Per 100K: 43.59
Top ancestry: White (71.2%)
First name trend
Billy: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Billy. The peak year was 1934 with 9,659 births. The average person named Billy today is 63 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Billy
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Billy, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 77.2%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Billy described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Billy at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White77.2% · 133,810
- Black or African American11.9% · 20,605
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 7,065
- Two or more races3.2% · 5,467
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 3,933
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 2,556
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Ray surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Ray, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 71.2%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Ray described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Ray at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White71.2% · 92,801
- Black or African American17.1% · 22,264
- Two or more races4.6% · 6,004
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 4,521
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 3,539
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1,160
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Billy has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0623% of the US population, based on 213,640 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Billy right now.
The surname Ray appears at a rate of 43.59 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0436%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 93 people with the full name Billy Ray. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Billy
Related
Other people with the surname Ray
FAQ
Billy Ray: questions and answers
How many people are named Billy Ray?
We estimate approximately 93 people in the United States share the full name Billy Ray. That works out to about 1 in 3,685,531 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0623%) with the surname frequency (43.59 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Billy Ray?
We classify Billy Ray as "Very Rare". About 1 in 3,685,531 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Billy a male or female name?
Billy is predominantly male. Out of 389,442 total SSA registrations, 98.6% were male and 1.4% were female. See the full Billy profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people are named Billy Ray?
If you just want to know how many people are called Billy Ray, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.