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There are approximately 11,448 people named Clay in the UK. That makes it the 910th most common surname overall. Out of every million people in the UK, approximately 181 are named Clay.

Region of origin

British Isles

Country of origin

England

Language of origin

English

Religion of origin

Christian

Classification

English
Location or Geographical Feature

Related and similar surnames

Clas
Claes
Claas
Claw
Clar
Clam
Clap
Clan
Claeys
Clak
Cla
Clae
Clai
Claa
Clauy
Claey
Chlea
Chla
Claiz
Claaz
Clao
Clagh
Clais
Claeye
Clahy
Claigh
Chlae
Claaes
Clau
Claegh

The Clay surname in historical dictionaries

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857)

(origin: Local) A town of France in Seine. A lake on the isle of Lewis, Scotland. Clee, hills in Wales. Cle, left-handed, a place lying to the left, in relation to another place. Cledh, cloid, and cladd, in the Gaelic, Welsh, and British, signify a ditch, a trench, a wall; cladh, a church-yard; cledd, Welsh, a sword; Gaelic, claiheamb, from which we have Claymore, a large sword. The same word in Welsh and Gaelic that signifies a river is often applied to a sword, from their resemblance in glittering brightness.

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

Patronymica Britannica (1860)

CLAY. Several localities bear this name, but the surname must sometimes have been adopted from residence in a clayey district. The forms in the H.R. are Cley, Clai, in le Clay, del Clay, and de la Cleje. Le Clayere may be synonymous, although a Cleymanne was, according to the Promptorium Parvulorum, a dauber or plasterer.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.

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