Clay (name)
Appearance
Clay is both an English surname, a masculine given name, often short for Clayton, and a nickname.
Surname
[edit]Geographical distribution
[edit]As of 2014, 76.1% of all known bearers of the surname Clay were residents of the United States (frequency 1:5,846), 12.5% of England (1:5,460), 2.7% of Australia (1:10,816), 1.4% of Canada (1:31,264) and 1.2% of France (1:69,714).
In England, the frequency of the surname was higher than average (1:5,460) in the following counties:
- 1. Nottinghamshire (1:1,287)
- 2. Derbyshire (1:2,238)
- 3. Lincolnshire (1:2,318)
- 4. Staffordshire (1:2,357)
- 5. Leicestershire (1:2,705)
- 6. Warwickshire (1:2,752)
- 7. West Yorkshire (1:2,838)
- 8. Herefordshire (1:2,856)
- 9. South Yorkshire (1:3,014)
- 10. Shropshire (1:3,271)
- 11. North Yorkshire (1:4,378)
- 12. Cornwall (1:4,867)
- 13. Hertfordshire (1:5,093)
- 14. Cambridgeshire (1:5,301)
In the United States, the frequency of the surname was higher than average (1:5,846) in the following states:[1]
- 1. West Virginia (1:1,501)
- 2. Mississippi (1:1,690)
- 3. Georgia (1:2,391)
- 4. Arkansas (1:2,794)
- 5. Alabama (1:2,876)
- 6. Missouri (1:3,086)
- 7. Kentucky (1:3,223)
- 8. Louisiana (1:3,418)
- 9. Oklahoma (1:3,507)
- 10. Tennessee (1:3,769)
- 11. Ohio (1:4,169)
- 12. Virginia (1:4,296)
- 13. Texas (1:4,473)
- 14. North Carolina (1:4,705)
- 15. Illinois (1:5,138)
- 16. Michigan (1:5,431)
- 17. Maryland (1:5,696)
- 18. Indiana (1:5,723)
People with the surname
[edit]- Adam Clay (disambiguation), several people
- Alfred Borron Clay (1831–1868), British artist
- Allyson Clay, Canadian artist
- Bryan Clay (born 1980), American gold medalist in the decathlon at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing
- Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Clay, 1942–2016), American boxer
- Cassius Marcellus Clay (politician) (1810–1903), American politician, abolitionist
- Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. (1912–1990), American painter and musician and father of Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali)
- Charles Clay (disambiguation), several people
- Craig Clay (born 1992), English footballer
- Edward Clay (born 1945), British diplomat
- Edward Sneyd Clay (c. 1768 – 1846), British naval officer
- Eric Clay (1922–2007), British rugby league referee
- Ethel Clay (1874–1943), American nurse and socialite
- Frederic Clay (1838–1889), British composer
- Frederick William Clay (1927–1983), known as Freddie, Indigenous Australian activist on Palm Island, Queensland (husband of Iris)
- Grady Clay (1916–2013), American journalist
- Henry Clay (1777–1852), American statesman and orator
- Iris Clay (1936–1979), Indigenous Australian activist on Palm Island, Queensland (wife of Fred)
- James Clay (disambiguation), several people
- John Clay (disambiguation), several people
- Kaelin Clay (born 1992), American football player
- Lacy Clay (born 1956), U.S. House Representative
- Lauren Clay (born 1982), American artist
- Lucius D. Clay (1897–1978), American general and military governor
- Otis Clay (1942–2016), American R&B and soul singer
- Philippe Clay (1927–2007), French singer
- Raven Clay (born 1990), American hurdler
- Rosa Clay (1875–1959), a Namibian-born Finnish American teacher, singer and choral conductor
- Rudy Clay (politician) (1936–2013), American politician
- Rudolph Valentino Clay (born 1943), rechristened from Rudolph Arnett at birth, given name of American boxer Rahaman Ali, brother of Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali)
- Sam Clay (born 1993), American baseball player
People with the given name
[edit]- 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 Dreslough, American video game designer
- Clay Guida (born 1981), American mixed martial artist
- Clay Hensley (born 1979), American baseball player
- Clay Higgins (born 1961), American politician
- Clay Jenkins (born 1964), American politician and lawyer
- Clay S. Jenkinson (born 1955), American Rhodes Scholar and popular historical re-enactor
- Clay Johnston (academic), American neurologist and university administrator
- Clay Johnston (American football) (born 1996), American football player
- Clay Kaytis (born 1973), American animator and director
- Clay Matthews Sr. (1928–2017), American football player
- Clay Matthews Jr. (born 1956), American football player, son of the above
- Clay Matthews III (born 1986), American football player, son of the above
- Clay Riley, American politician
- Clay Milner Russell (born 1999), English actor
- Clay V. Spear (c. 1914 – 1974), associate justice of the Idaho Supreme Court
- Clay Sweeting, Bahamian politician
- Clay Travis (born 1979), American sports journalist
- Clay Walker (born 1969), American country music singer
- Clay Webb, American football player
- Clay (born 1999), pseudonym Dream, American YouTuber and Minecraft gamer
People with the nickname
[edit]- Clay Cook (born 1978), American guitarist, keyboardist, mandolinist, steel guitarist, and vocalist in Zac Brown Band
- Clay Regazzoni (1939–2006), Swiss racing car driver
Fictional characters
[edit]- Clay, the first host of Playhouse Disney
- Clay (Pokémon), in the Pokémon universe
- Clay Bailey, in the American animated television series Xiaolin Showdown
- Clay Calloway, from the film Sing 2
- Clay Davis, in American TV series The Wire
- Clay Jensen, in the novel and Netflix series 13 Reasons Why
- Clay Kaczmarek, from the Assassin's Creed games
- Clay Moorington, a character in Nexo Knights
- Clay Morrow, from American TV series Sons of Anarchy
- Clay Puppington, the main antagonist of the American TV series Moral Orel
- Clay Simons, in the game Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned
- Clay Terran, from the game series Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies
- Caduceus Clay, from the American web series Critical Role
- Faceas Clay, an antagonist from the Strider Hiryu manga and NES game
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See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Clay surname distribution". forebears.io.