The Clay surname
In the 2000 U.S. Census, 46,264 people carried this name — #677 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 5,830 people counted.
Free to read. No account, no sign-up.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 387 people named Clay.
12 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 29 départements, most often Pas-de-Calais.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
25 people named Clay live in Switzerland.
They live in 5 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Valais.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In print
Clay in American newspapers,
1825–1913.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 2,326,679 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Clay,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Mary Clay actor
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Clay.
- Claverie 291 · U.S. census
- Clavero 156 · U.S. census
- Clavet 203 · U.S. census
- Clavey 191 · U.S. census
- Clavier 374 · U.S. census
- Clavon 161 · U.S. census
- Clee 251 · U.S. census
- Clem 8,087 · U.S. census
- Clemence 712 · U.S. census
- Clemens 13,995 · U.S. census
- Clemenson 605 · U.S. census
- Clement 23,233 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Clay is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.