Explore the Family Name Ay

The meaning of Ay

1. Turkish: ornamental name or nickname from ay ‘Moon’, by extension also ‘beautiful face’. 2. Hungarian (Áy): unexplained. 3. Chinese: alternative Mandarin form of the surname 艾, see Ai 2.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Ay in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census, the surname Ay has increased in popularity from 2000 to 2010. It was ranked 68,360th most popular in 2000, but by 2010 it had climbed significantly to 53,072nd place, an increase of 22.36%. The total count of individuals with the Ay surname also rose during this time period, with an approximately 45% increase from 269 in 2000 to 390 in 2010. Consequently, the proportion of people named Ay per 100,000 population also saw a jump of 30%, moving from 0.1 in 2000 to 0.13 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#68,360	#53,072	22.36%
Count	269	390	44.98%
Proportion per 100k	0.1	0.13	30%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Ay

In terms of ethnic identity, the Ay surname is most commonly associated with people who identify as white, and this group saw an increase of 11.28% between 2000 and 2010, going from 55.76% to 62.05% according to the Decennial U.S. Census. During the same period, the proportion of those identifying as Black also increased by 37.89%, jumping from 4.46% to 6.15%. However, the percentage of people with the Ay surname who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander decreased by 15.46%, dropping from 26.39% to 22.31%. Similarly, the Hispanic group saw a decrease of 24.46%, moving from 7.81% to 5.9%. For those who identified as two or more races, the data was suppressed for privacy reasons.

	2000	2010	Change
White	55.76%	62.05%	11.28%
Asian/Pacific Islander	26.39%	22.31%	-15.46%
Black	4.46%	6.15%	37.89%
Hispanic	7.81%	5.9%	-24.46%
Two or More Races	5.58%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%