Ray vs Rayford
American parents have registered 210,307 Rays since 1880, against 5,516 Rayfords. Ray is still ahead, with 338 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Ray Rayford
Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.
Who was ahead
Ray has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.
The closest they came was 1937, when Ray had 2,774 and Rayford had 124.
Side by side
| Ray | Rayford | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 210,307 | 5,516 |
| Most in one year | 3,529 | 124 |
| Babies in 2025 | 338 | 5 |
| Estimated living today | 89,000 | 2,500 |
| Median age today | 63 | 64 |
| Peak year | 1957 | 1937 |
| Best rank | 111th boys | 517th boys |
| Rank in 2025 | 791st | 12,008th |
| First recorded | 1880 | 1896 |
| Girls / boys | 5,606 / 204,701 | 0 / 5,516 |
A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.
Where each one is strongest
- Ray West Virginia (2.1×), Arkansas (2.1×), New Mexico (2.0×)
- Rayford Alabama (11.3×), Mississippi (9.9×), North Carolina (4.3×)
How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.
Compare something else
Related comparisons
Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Ray and Rayford.