Cray History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
France
Scotland

The surname Cray is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties. As a general rule, the greater the distance between an individual and their homeland, the larger the territory they were named after. For example, a person who only moved to another parish would be known by the name of their original village, while people who migrated to a different country were often known by the name of a region or country from which they came. The name Cray is derived from the Old French word "creste," meaning the "peak of a hill", and indicated that the original bearer lived at or near such a place.

Early Origins of the Cray family

The surname Cray was first found in Burgundy (French: Bourgogne), an administrative and historical region of east-central France, where the family has held a family seat since ancient times.

Early History of the Cray family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cray research. Another 173 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1435, 1632, 1777, 1791, 1796, 1800, 1810, 1840 and 1852 are included under the topic Early Cray History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cray Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Crest, Cret, Crests, Crets, Creste, Crete, Crête, Crestes, Cretes, du Crest, Ducrest, du Cret, Ducret, Crais, Crait, Crez, Ducrais, Ducrait, Ducrez, Cray, Crey and many more.

Early Notables of the Cray family

Notable amongst the family at this time was Alexandre Louis Ducrest de Villeneuve (1777-1852), a French naval officer and admiral. He was born in Paris and joined the Navy in 1791 when he was just 14 years old. By 1796, he was a midshipman first class, and in 1800 he...
Another 50 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Cray Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cray Ranking

In the United States, the name Cray is the 9,722^nd most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 1

Cray migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Cray Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Tonis Cray, aged 42, who landed in New York in 1643 2
Myles Cray, who arrived in Virginia in 1661 2
Teunis Cray, who landed in New York in 1664 2
Henry Cray, who landed in Virginia in 1664 2
John Cray, who arrived in Virginia in 1666 2
... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Cray Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

Paul Cray, who settled in Virginia in 1732
Jacob Simon Cray, who settled in 1772

Cray Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

John D Cray, aged 28, who landed in New York in 1812 2
John S. Cray, who settled in New York City in 1822

Cray migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Cray Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Miss Catharine Cray, English convict who was convicted in Surrey, England for 7 years, transported aboard the "Buffalo" on 4th May 1833, arriving in New South Wales, Australia 3
Peter Cray, who arrived in Holdfast Bay, Australia aboard the ship "Brightman" in 1840 4
Miss Caroline Cray, (b. 1822), aged 24, English convict who was convicted in Somerset, England for 10 years for stealing, transported aboard the "Emma Eugenia" on 22nd January 1846, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 5
Mr. William Cray, English convict who was convicted in Wells, Somerset, England for 10 years, transported aboard the "Eden" on 30th September 1848, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Island) 6
Miss Ellen Cray, (Robinson, Jane) who was convicted in Durham, England for 7 years , transported aboard the "Aurora" on 22nd April 1851, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 7

Contemporary Notables of the name Cray (post 1700) +

Seymour R. Cray (1925-1996), American electrical engineer and supercomputer architect; his computers were the fastest in the world for decades, eponymous founder of Cray Research and the Cray Computer Corporation
Patricia Cray (1941-2023), American actress
Eric Shauwn Brazas Cray (b. 1988), Filipino American four-time gold medalist track and field athlete
Robert Cray, American blues musician/singer
Mary Cray, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Pennsylvania, 1996 8
D. H. Cray, American Democratic Party politician, Alternate Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Vermont, 1924 8
Andrew Cray, American Democratic Party politician, Chair of Hunterdon County Democratic Party, 1945 8

Citations +

"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 3rd November 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/buffalo
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) BRIGHTMAN 1840. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1840Brightman.htm
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 4th April 2022). https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/emma-eugenia
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 15th November 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/eden
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 20th August 2020). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/aurora
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 28) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html