Ray family name history
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Ray in 1911 Ireland
The 1911 Census recorded 159 people named Ray in Ireland; roughly one in every 28,000 people carried the name. The name was split fairly evenly between men and women: 74 men and 84 women. (A small number, 1, had no sex recorded.)
Counties with Ray in Ireland
Dublin was Ray country: 31.4% of them (50 people) lived there in 1911. Next came Antrim (33), Limerick (23), Tipperary (9) and Armagh (7).
Ray average age in 1911
The average Ray in 1911 was 29.6 years old, 28.9 for men and 30.1 for women; almost exactly in line with the national averages of 29.6 for men and 30.5 for women. That low figure reflects just how many children there were in Edwardian Ireland, along with high infant mortality and the limits of public health at the time. For comparison, average life expectancy in Ireland today is around 83.
Ray literacy in 1911
Of the Rays whose literacy was recorded, 78.9% could both read and write, 4.1% could read but not write, and 17% could do neither. Men came out slightly ahead, 80.3% reading and writing against 77.6% of women. Bear in mind these figures include young children; the census itself only counted people aged nine and over when calculating illiteracy, on the grounds that it was unfair to label a child illiterate before they'd had a chance to learn.
Ray common first names
The most common male names were John (12), William, James, Robert and Thomas. For women it was Mary (14), followed by Annie, Bridget, Margaret and Catherine.
Ray occupations in 1911
The most common entry on a Ray's census form was "Scholar"; 13.8% (22) were children at school. Among the rest, the most common occupations were farmer (7.5%), domestic servant (3.8%), general labourer (3.8%) and farm labourer (3.1%). Grouped by sector, agriculture accounted for 11.9% of all Rays, followed by domestic service, general labourers and textiles & clothing.
What religion is Ray?
Most Rays, 56%, were Roman Catholic. The remainder were mostly Anglican (28.9%), Presbyterian (11.3%) and Plymouth Brethren (1.3%).
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Visitor Notes
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Added by
Pete F
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Ray statistics (1911)
Number: 159
Rank: 2,897
Average Age: 30
Rayin the USA (2020)
Number: 130,289
Rank: 219
Note: If there were less than 100 in the USA census it will show as zero.
