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♂ Ray
What does Ray mean?
Ray 
▼ as a boys' name (also used less commonly as girls' name Ray) is pronounced ray. It is of English and Old German origin, and the meaning of Ray is "protecting hands". A short form of Raymond used as an independent name in the 20th century and also in contemporary blends. See also Raynor. Singer Ray Charles; boxer Sugar Ray Leonard; author Ray Bradbury; actors Ray Liotta, Ray Romano.
STARTS WITH Ray-
ASSOCIATED WITH protecting (defender), 20th century (modern)
Variations
VARIANTS Rae, Rai, Raice, Rayce, Rayder, Raydon, Raye, Rayford, Raylen, Raynell, Reigh
SEE ALSO Rashaun
ALTERNATIVE FORMS VIA RAYMOND, RAYNOR Ramon▼, Rane, Raynar, Rayne, Rayner
FEMININE FORMS Rae, Raina, Rayann
CREATIVE FORMS(male)
(female)
MIDDLE NAME PAIRINGS
Ray Jeremy (R.J.), ..
How popular is Ray?
Ray is a very prominent first name for men (#132 out of 1220, Top 11%) and also a very prominent surname for all people (#208 out of 150436, Top 1%). (2000 U.S. CENSUS)
Ray reached its peak position of #55 in the U.S. during 1890-1899, and is presently at #728. (2018 BIRTH STATISTICS)
Which version is better?
Prominent varying forms of Ray (#728 VIA LATEST LIST) rated in the Top 2000 are Raymond (#299), Ramon (#731), Raylen (#1871), Rae, Rashaun, Rayce and Rayford. Adoption of these relations of Ray was widespread in the 1920s (ADOPTION OF 1.47%) and is now significantly lower (ADOPTION 0.1%, 92.9% LESS), with forms like Ramon falling out of fashion.
Similar Names
Ray▼ is pronounced similarly to Rei, Reo, Rey▲, Rio, Roe, Roi, Row, Rowe, Roy▼, Ruy, Rye, Ryu, Ryuu and Wray. Other recommended sound-alike names are Bay, Day, Fay▼, Gay, Jay▼, Kay▼, Rab, Rad, Raj, Ram, Ramy, Ras, Tay and Way. These names tend to be less commonly used than Ray.
See names in meaning and etymology.[Top]