Clay

What Clay means

Meaning not yet sourced. Wiktionary has no word-by-word meaning for Clay yet, and we don’t write our own.

Editor’s note Up from #720 in 2015 to #573 in 2025 in the US. 4 letters, ending in -ay like Jay and Ray Worked out from the official US and England & Wales counts, not a meaning.

How popular is Clay?

US: Rising: up from #720 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #740 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1960, when 904 boys got the name (#265 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 3,317 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 7,156 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 3,928 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in IA (2.1 per 1,000 boys), MO (1.08 per 1,000 boys), WV (0.97 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Clay is #573 in the US and #845 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Clay were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Cal554 US · 4 E&W
• Klay84 US · 10 E&W
• Coal7 US
• Clae0 US · 4 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Clay

Boys

• Clayton#300“clay + enclosure, settlement; town”^*
• Casey#320“descendant of (a person named) Watchful”^*
• Leroy#883“the king”^*
• Wayne#652“wagon”^*
• Jay#392“victory”^*
• Russell#345Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1960, with 7,487 babies; 944 in 2025

For a sister

• Chandler#895Editor’s note 296 US babies in 2025, but under 3 in England & Wales
• Holly#416“wood, clearing, meadow”^*
• Hunter#841From the word “hunter”^*
• Logan#402“little hollow”^*
• Darcy#857“to burn, consume”^*
• Kelsey#814Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #343 in 2015, #814 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Clay’s. Rank is US 2025.