This section shows the number of GRAY and GREY names recorded in the census indices held by Ancestry.co.uk on the 1st November 2009. The data is split into that for England, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It should be realised that the data is only as accurate as that given to the enumerator, how the enumerator recorded it and how people transcribed the data and input it into Ancestry’s database. On top of that, there could be errors I’ve introduced in extracting the numbers from Ancestry’s web-site. Because of this, not only should the data NOT be seen as the official Ancestry view, it should ONLY be used as an indication of number of these names actually extant at the time the census was taken.
GRAY
England
Scotland
Wales
CI
IoM
1901
43,286
18,446
763
84
37
1891
37,100
16,457
643
82
39
1881
34,642
15,337
525
77
18
1871
27,445
12,824
430
51
22
1861
23,268
12,369
316
46
30
1851
19,936
11,957
248
69
15
1841
16,996
10,306
155
57
11
GREY
England
Scotland
Wales
CI
IoM
1901
22,794
417
647
14
1
1891
19,944
421
512
4
5
1881
19,952
507
366
0
8
1871
15,416
533
309
5
2
1861
12,611
423
233
9
2
1851
10,703
688
225
7
2
1841
8,523
653
153
13
6
National Trust
The national Trust Names site gives the following Data for GRAY
1881
1998
Change
Frequency
42,729
60,227
+17,498
Rank
69
65
+4
Occurrences per million names
1,580
1,617
+37
and the following for GREY
1881
1998
Change
Frequency
6,507
4,811
-1,696
Rank
664
1,275
-611
Occurrences per million names
241
129
-112
Taliesin Arlein
The Taliesin Arlein Names site gives the following for those living in England, Wales and the Isle of Man in September 2002.