Gray
A very common surname that can be a spelling of Grey, or sometimes a nickname/occupation name tied to gray hair or a grammar teacher.
The #87 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 1,254 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname has more than one historical source. In many cases it is simply a spelling of Grey, from the Old English word for the color gray and often used as a nickname for someone with gray hair or a gray complexion. Some families, however, took the name from a place in Normandy, especially Grai near Caen, while another older English explanation connects Gray to Middle English 'grammar' or 'grammer,' meaning a grammarian or teacher.
History
The name appears early in medieval records in both England and Normandy, and later spread widely in Britain and then overseas. Bardsley and Lower both treat Gray as a name with multiple possible origins, which helps explain why it became so common and why different Gray families are not necessarily related. It is now one of the best-known surnames in the English-speaking world.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older surname studies, Gray was sometimes linked to a place-name in Normandy, while the color-based explanation was also kept in play—so the same spelling can hide several different family histories.
From the historical record
“'lad,' 'servant' + mdr, 'big,' 'great.' GRAY 2 Bel. to Graye, Calvados (Norm.), A.D. 1086 Graeium, 1203 Grae [app. Bret. grae, a sand-flat] GUELPH : see under Whelp in Diet. HALE (Eng.) when the meaning is 'Slope' the etym. is O.E. h(e)al(d = O.N. hall-r = O.H.Ger. halda, mod. Ger. halde.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)