Jay has been given to about 198,132 people in the United States since 1880. It was most common in 1960, which makes it a boomer-era name.
Jay ranks 392nd among American boys in 2025, with 818 born that year. Its best year was 1960, when 5,429 babies were given the name, ranking 78th. The typical living American called Jay is about 59 years old today. It is relatively most common in South Dakota, where it accounts for 0.10% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.