ESC Name Rank Total Searching... No names found Try searching for: Emma, Liam, Olivia, Noah... 1891 First Year 2024 Last Year 1942 Peak Year #2416 Peak Rank 273 Total Count 38 Years Active 🌍 ## Meaning & Origin of Clay What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures. Clay is both an English surname, and a masculine given name. It may be short for Clayton. Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay%5F%28name%29) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay%5F%28name%29) 📖 ## The Story of Clay Clay first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 1880, with 18 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 1960, when 904 Clays were born — ranking #264 that year. As of 2026, Clay ranks #531 for baby boys with 558 births, rising sharply (+33% over the past five years). In total, more than 41K Clays have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1880s through the 2020s. ## Popularity Over Time ## Popularity by State ME WA MT ND MN WI MI NY VT NH MA OR ID SD IA IL IN OH PA NJ CT RI CA NV WY NE MO KY WV VA MD DE DC UT CO KS AR TN NC SC AK AZ NM OK LA MS AL GA HI TX FL Top 10 11-50 51-100 101-500 500+ No data ⭐ ## Notable people named Clay A small selection from Wikipedia. Tap "Read more" below to see the full list on Wikipedia. * ●Clay Aiken (born 1978), American popular music singer * ●Clay Buchholz (born 1984), Major League Baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox * ●Clay Calvert American lawyer and academic * ●Clay Martin Croker (1962–2016), American voice actor and animator * ●Clay Dalrymple (born 1936), former American professional baseball player * ●Clay Dreslough , American video game designer * ●Clay Felker (1925–2008), American magazine editor and journalist * ●Clay Fuller (born 1981), American politician and attorney Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay%5F%28name%29) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay%5F%28name%29) 🎶 ## Names that sound like Clay Phonetically similar names — useful when Clay is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * [Klay](/klay) * Clait * Clei * Clue * Claw * Clow * [Cloe](/cloe) * [Clea](/clea) * [Cloy](/cloy) * [Clu](/clu) * [Clo](/clo) * [Chlo](/chlo) Source: [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated. ❓ ## Frequently Asked Questions about Clay What does the name Clay mean? Clay is both an English surname, and a masculine given name. It may be short for Clayton. How popular is Clay in 2026? In 2026, Clay ranks #531 among boys' names in the U.S., with 558 babies given the name that year. When was Clay most popular? Clay reached its peak popularity in 1960, ranking #259 that year with 904 babies given the name. In which U.S. states is Clay most popular? Clay has historically been most popular in Kentucky, Wyoming, Utah. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Clay. Is Clay a unisex name? In U.S. Social Security records, Clay is primarily a boy's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a girl's name. What names go well with Clay? Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Clay include Hugo, Shirley, Bruno. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data. ## Similar Names [👧FrankyePeak #2416](/frankye)[👧GerenePeak #2416](/gerene)[👧WeldaPeak #2416](/welda)[👧MarriannePeak #2416](/marrianne)[👧CarylePeak #2416](/caryle)[👧NormandiePeak #2416](/normandie)[👧SuPeak #2416](/su)[👧SandreaPeak #2416](/sandrea) ## About the name Clay Clay is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1880 and has accumulated 41K births in the dataset. Clay's peak popularity came in 1960 when it ranked #259\. Use the chart and map above to compare Clay's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices. ### Continue exploring * [ Top names of 1960 → ](/year/1960) * [ Names of the 1960s → ](/decade/1960s) * [ Names starting with "C" → ](/letter/c) * [ Browse all boy names → ](/names/boys) * [ Top names of 2026 → ](/year/2026) Data sources * Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. [Social Security Administration ](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/). Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships. * Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — [Behind the Name ](https://www.behindthename.com/) (used under their public API terms). * Meaning prose and editorial summary — [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/) article extracts, licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0 ](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). * Predicted nationality distribution — [Nationalize.io ](https://nationalize.io/). * Phonetically similar names — [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.