How Many People Are Named Clay?
people named Clay are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 10,690 people in the US has this name
Based on 40,525 babies named Clay in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
💎 Rare
Peak Year
911 births
Trend
Stable (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
From an English surname that originally referred to a person who lived near or worked with clay. This name can also be a short form of CLAYTON.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
Related & Similar Names
⚧ Gender Distribution
Almost all of the babies given the name Clay (99.6%) were boys.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Clay alive today is about 38 years old, and 39% are under 30. Half of them were between 22 and 57 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Clay first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 1960, to 911 babies. In 2025, 515 babies got the name.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Clay has never been one of the 100 most popular boys' names. Its best rank was #259, in 1961. In 2025 it ranked #573.
| Boys | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #573 |
| Best rank | #259 (1961) |
| Years in the top 100 | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #406 in the 1990s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Clay alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Clay were born in Texas than in any other state: about 3,685 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Clay was given 3 times as often in Kentucky, 2.3 times in Oklahoma and 2.2 times in Arkansas.
Look up another name
⊙ We don't save the names you search.