The Lay surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 18,468 people carried this name — #1,957 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 16,000 people counted. That is up 3% from 17,979 in 2000.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 807 people named Lay.
110 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 55 départements, most often Hautes-Pyrénées.
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 Argentina’s national register
At least 419 people named Lay 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 Switzerland’s population statistics
107 people named Lay live in Switzerland.
They live in 11 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
95 people named Lay are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
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) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Lay in American newspapers,
1890–1924.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 6,776,310 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Lay,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Benjamin Lay 1682–1759 · writer -
Henry Douglas Lay 1824– · politician -
Albert Tracy Lay 1825–1918 -
George Lay d. 1944
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George W. Lay 1798–1860 · lawyer
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Alfred Morrison Lay 1836–1879 · lawyer
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 9 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Lay.
- Lavoie 9,408 · U.S. census
- Lavole 253 · U.S. census
- Lavy 783 · U.S. census
- Lawniczak 472 · U.S. census
- Lawrence 129,699 · U.S. census
- Lawson 119,053 · U.S. census
- Laya 368 · U.S. census
- Laye 635 · U.S. census
- Layer 1,323 · U.S. census
- Layes 112 · U.S. census
- Laz 219 · U.S. census
- Lazar 6,093 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Lay 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.