Holiday Calendar

National Ray Day

Next celebratedThursday, March 4, 2027

Ray Bradbury and Ray Charles were each born Ray, shortening nothing. March 4 is the day for a name that doubles as the English word for a beam of light.

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Last updated September 7, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?
YEARLY DATEMarch 4
OBSERVED INUnited States
CATEGORYNames
ORIGIN

Community Origin

FOUNDING ENTITY
Not documented
FIRST OBSERVED
Not documented
HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

A name day that arrived unsigned.

National Ray Day circulates as an informal name day on holiday listing pages. A search of the Federal Register and of archived March 4 calendars going back more than a decade located no establishing act, no proposer, and no first observance.

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INTRO

A nickname for Raymond, but it peaked 23 years earlier

National Ray Day belongs to a name that gets filed under another one. Behind the Name lists Ray as a short form of Raymond, often used on its own. The American birth record says the short form peaked first.

The national name files kept by the Social Security Administration reach back to 1880. Ray's share of newborn American boys topped out in 1896. Raymond's did not top out until 1919.

That is a gap of 23 years, and it runs the wrong way. A nickname riding its parent name peaks alongside it or after it. Ray was already sliding while Raymond climbed to its all-time high.

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ORIGINS

Ray Day history

INTRODUCTION

Raymond reached England with the Normans, in the form Reimund. Behind the Name traces it to the Germanic Raginmund, a compound of regin, meaning advice, counsel or decision, and munt, meaning protection. Medieval saints carried it, among them Raymond Nonnatus, the patron of midwives and expectant mothers.

Ray is the clipped form of that name, and at the opening of the American record the two ran close. The first year on file counts 142 boys registered as Ray. Raymond had 165.

CHAPTER 01

The short form goes its own way

Then the curves came apart, and the lead only ever ran one way. In every year the Social Security files cover, Raymond has outnumbered Ray among American boys. The short form has never once been the more common of the two.

The size of that lead is easiest to feel in raw counts. Raymond's largest single year put 12,872 boys on the American register. Ray's largest put 3,409.

CHAPTER 02

Two Rays who were never Raymonds

Behind the Name's entry for Ray points to two bearers. One is the novelist Ray Bradbury, born in Waukegan, Illinois. Britannica gives his name in full as Ray Douglas Bradbury.

The other is Ray Charles, born in Albany, Georgia, and billed later as the Genius. Britannica records his original name as Ray Charles Robinson. Neither man was shortening anything.

Ray Romano is the counterexample. Britannica also lists him as Raymond Romano. He went on to play the title character in Everybody Loves Raymond.

CHAPTER 03

A day that arrived unsigned

The observance itself is the thinnest part of the file. A search of the Federal Register returns zero documents for National Ray Day. Archived listings for the date, going back more than a decade, do not carry it either.

So the day has a name, a date, and very little paperwork behind it. What it does have is the record of the name, which is unusually long and unusually public. That record shows the split plainly and explains it nowhere.

TIMELINE

Timeline

The American record opens close

The first year of Social Security data counts 142 boys registered as Ray and 165 as Raymond.

Ray Douglas Bradbury is born

The future author of Fahrenheit 451 arrives in Waukegan, Illinois, carrying Ray as his given name.

Ray Charles Robinson is born

The musician later billed as the Genius is born in Albany, Georgia, under the name Ray.

Ray Charles enters the Rock Hall

He is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and receives a Kennedy Center Honor in the same year.

Everybody Loves Raymond premieres

Ray Romano, whom Britannica also lists as Raymond Romano, begins his run as the title character.

A Pulitzer citation for Bradbury

The Pulitzer Prize Board awards Ray Bradbury a Special Citation for his distinguished career.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love National Ray Day

REVERSAL

The short form is gaining on its parent again.

Across the 1990s, American births recorded as Ray ran at 0.170 of those recorded as Raymond, the lowest of any decade in the series. That fraction has climbed in every decade since, reaching 0.330 for the years 2020 through 2023.

LANGUAGE

Ray is a name and an English word at once

Behind the Name records that the name coincides with an English word meaning beam of light. The same entry gives Rae as its feminine form.

GENDER

It has never been only a boys' name

Ray is overwhelmingly recorded as a boys' name in the United States, but it has also appeared on the Social Security girls' list in 135 separate years. Its strongest showing there was rank 381, back in 1890.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Ray Day by the Numbers

#49
Ray's best US rank, set in 1891
144
Ray's unbroken years in the US top 1,000
#842
Ray's lowest US rank, in 2021
204,058
US boys recorded as Ray since 1880
333
US boys named Ray in 2023

GOOD TO KNOW

National Ray Day Around the World

England and Wales

Raymond appears in the Office for National Statistics top 100 in 8 of the 13 years the historical series samples between 1904 and 2024, peaking at rank 15 in 1934. Ray appears in none of the 13.

France and Norway

Behind the Name records a name day for Raymond on January 7 in France and on November 3 in Norway. It lists none at all for Ray.

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate National Ray Day

EDITOR'S PICK

Look up Ray in your own birth year

The Social Security Administration publishes every name given to at least five American babies in a year, back to 1880. Find the year you were born and see where Ray sat.

PUT

Put on a Ray Charles record

The Library of Congress added What'd I Say to the National Recording Registry in 2002. Start there and let the rest of the catalog follow.

READ

Read Fahrenheit 451 in one sitting

The 1953 novel is regarded as Ray Bradbury's greatest work, set in a future where books are forbidden. Reading it is a direct way to spend the day with a Ray.

ASK

Ask a Ray what the certificate says

Some Rays are shortened Raymonds and some were Rays from the start. It takes one question to find out which kind you are talking to.

WATCH

Watch an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond

Ray Romano won the 2002 Emmy for best actor in a comedy series for the role. It is also the tidiest illustration of the split, a Ray playing a Raymond.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know National Ray Day?

1 / 8

Which Germanic name is Raymond built from?

Answer

No. It is an unofficial observance with no legal standing located, so schools, banks and offices keep normal hours.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

8sources
3primary records
3independently dated
Primary records
Social Security Administration2024
Beyond the Top 1000 Names (national baby-name data, 1880 to 2023)
Counts for every name given to five or more US babies in a year, by sex, since 1880.
View source
Office for National Statistics2025-07
Top 100 baby names in England and Wales: historical data, 1904 to 2024
The top 100 boys' and girls' names at ten-yearly intervals, from birth registrations.
View source
Office of the Federal Register
Federal Register document search for 'National Ray Day'
The federal record of proclamations and designations, which returns nothing for this phrase.
View source
Additional coverage
Behind the Name2014-12
Meaning, origin and history of the name Ray
Files Ray as an independently used short form of Raymond that doubles as an English noun.
View source
Behind the Name
Meaning, origin and history of the name Raymond
Traces Raymond to the Germanic Raginmund and records its name days in France and Norway.
View source
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Ray Bradbury: Biography, Books, Fahrenheit 451, and Facts
Life and work of the novelist, with his full name and his 2007 Pulitzer Special Citation.
View source
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Ray Charles: Biography, Music, Songs, and Facts
The musician's original name, his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and his awards.
View source
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Ray Romano: Biography, TV Shows, Movies, and Facts
The comedian's alternate name Raymond Romano and his 2002 Emmy for Everybody Loves Raymond.
View source
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