Explore the Family Name Spray

The meaning of Spray

English: 1. nickname for a thin person, from Middle English spray ‘slender shoot or twig’. 2. variant of Spry.

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

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

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname "Spray" saw a slight decrease between 2000 and 2010. In 2000, it was ranked as the 10,465th most popular surname, whereas by 2010, it moved to the 11,122nd position, marking a change of -6.28%. Despite the slip in rank, the actual count of individuals with the surname increased marginally from 2,816 in 2000 to 2,851 in 2010, reflecting an increase of 1.24%. However, when considering proportion per 100,000 people, the usage of "Spray" did drop by -6.73%.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#10,465	#11,122	-6.28%
Count	2,816	2,851	1.24%
Proportion per 100k	1.04	0.97	-6.73%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Spray

On the other hand, the ethnicity associated with the surname "Spray" saw some notable shifts during the same period. The Decennial U.S. Census data reveals that the majority of bearers of this surname identified as White, even though the percentage dropped slightly from 94.11% in 2000 to 92.63% in 2010. The representation of Asian/Pacific Islander and Black identities also decreased by 11.96% and 20% respectively. Conversely, there was a significant increase in the number of people identifying as Hispanic or belonging to two or more races, showing a rise of 60.74% and 41.83% respectively. The proportion of those identifying as American Indian and Alaskan Native also rose by 34.34%.

	2000	2010	Change
White	94.11%	92.63%	-1.57%
Two or More Races	1.53%	2.17%	41.83%
Hispanic	1.35%	2.17%	60.74%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0.99%	1.33%	34.34%
Black	1.1%	0.88%	-20%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0.92%	0.81%	-11.96%