The Garay surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 14,393 people carried this name — #2,515 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 20,500 people counted. That is up 42% from 10,142 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Garay surname
From Spanish, from Basque Garai.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Garay» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 43,119 people named Garay live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 247 people named Garay.
31 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 22 départements, most often Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
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
34 people named Garay live in Switzerland.
They live in 6 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
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/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In the Nordic population registers
28 people named Garay is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Garay in American newspapers,
1908–1921.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 5,326 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Garay,
with a public archive behind them.
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János Garay 1812–1853 · writer -
Lina Dora Garay Tobar d. 1983 · housewife
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Carlos Miguel Garay Benavides d. 1973
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Luis de Garay 1613– · composer
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Ramón Fernando de Garay Álvarez 1761–1823 · composer
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José Nicolás Garay 1791–1875 · priest
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Garay.
- Gapp 496 · U.S. census
- Gara 613 · U.S. census
- Garabedian 1,879 · U.S. census
- Garand 625 · U.S. census
- Garant 669 · U.S. census
- Garate 968 · U.S. census
- Garbarini 241 · U.S. census
- Garbarino 1,821 · U.S. census
- Garbe 1,168 · U.S. census
- Garbin 365 · U.S. census
- Garby 171 · U.S. census
- Garceau 1,630 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Garay 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.