Meaning and history
Jay began as an English short form of names starting with the J sound, including James and Jason. It was also used in early America in honour of statesman and first U.S. chief justice John Jay, whose surname came from the name of the jay bird. The compact form later became an independent given name; notable bearers include comedian Jay Leno and musician Jay-Z, born Shawn Carter.
20062006: 867 births, rank #350
2007: 752 births, rank #396
2008: 763 births, rank #394
2009: 719 births, rank #408
2010: 687 births, rank #410
20112011: 718 births, rank #397
2012: 772 births, rank #386
2013: 767 births, rank #389
2014: 850 births, rank #370
2015: 806 births, rank #393
20162016: 818 births, rank #392
2017: 859 births, rank #382
2018: 799 births, rank #397
2019: 848 births, rank #373
2020: 808 births, rank #380
20212021: 864 births, rank #377
2022: 897 births, rank #367
2023: 837 births, rank #381
2024: 822 births, rank #396
20252025: 809 births, rank #392
Jay rose from #396 to #392 for boys between 2024 and 2025. Its highest annual birth count came in 1960, with 5,385 births.