The Guay surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 3,255 people carried this name — #9,923 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 90,900 people counted. That is up 3% from 3,168 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Guay surname
This surname is mostly found in Quebec and in the French-Canadian/Québécois diaspora.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Guay» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 744 people named Guay.
12 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 57 départements, most often Aisne.
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
20 people named Guay live in Switzerland.
They live in 5 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Vaud.
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 print
Guay in American newspapers,
1900–1926.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 38,244 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Guay,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Jacques Guay 1711–1793 · gem engraver -
Charles Guay 1845–1922 · Catholic priest -
Pierre Malcom Guay 1848–1899 · physician -
Gabriel Guay 1848–1923 · painter -
Johnny Guay 1828–1880 · businessperson
-
François-Xavier Guay 1834– · Catholic priest
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Guay.
- Guardiola 2,889 · U.S. census
- Guarino 6,775 · U.S. census
- Guarneri 718 · U.S. census
- Guarnieri 1,255 · U.S. census
- Guasch 184 · U.S. census
- Guasco 206 · U.S. census
- Gubert 129 · U.S. census
- Gucciardi 173 · U.S. census
- Guckert 346 · U.S. census
- Gue 1,271 · U.S. census
- Guedes 686 · U.S. census
- Gueho 179 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Guay 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.