Ray

A surname transferred from the nickname.

Proper noun

  1. A surname transferred from the nickname.
  2. A diminutive of the male given names Raymond, Rayane, or Rayan, also used as a formal given name.
    • -, or Raymond if it happened to be a boy, choosing it in the hope that a name like Ray would make a boy's life easier. - 1980, Wright Morris, Plains Song, for Female Voices, Harper&Row, →ISBN, page 113:
    • Although the name on his birth certificate was spelled "Ray", Ray said he was originally given the name "Rae" after Rae Williams, a cousin on his father's side. - 2005, Sam Weller, The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of...
    • Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood linked the drunken driving and distracted driving issues in his statement announcing the meeting. - 2009 August 5, Matt Richtel, “Federal Agency Plans Distracted Driving Forum”, in...
  3. A diminutive of the female given name Rachel, more often spelled Rae.
    • 'Rachel told me―' 'Call her Ray. She hates Rachel.' - 2010, Sophie Hannah, A Room Swept White, Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 271:
  4. A number of places in the United States:

    1. A census-designated place in Coosa County, Alabama.

    2. A ghost town in Pinal County, Arizona.

    3. An unincorporated community in Fremont Township, Steuben County, Indiana and Branch County, Michigan.

    4. A township in Macomb County, Michigan.

    5. An unincorporated community in Koochiching County, Minnesota.

    6. A minor city in Williams County, North Dakota.

  5. A river in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England, which joins the River Cherwell.
  6. A river in north Wiltshire, England, which joins the Thames.

Origin

* As an English surname, from pet forms derived from the root of Raymond. * Also as an English surname, from Old French rei (“king”). Compare Roy, King. * Also as an English surname, from Old English rā (“roe deer”). Compare Roe. * Also as an English surname, variant of Wray and Rye. * As a Scottish Gaelic surname, shortened from McRae. * As a French surname, from the verb raier (“to gush out, flow, radiate”). Compare Leray. * As a Polish and Slovene surname, Americanized from Raj, from raj (“paradise”). * As an Indian surname, variant of Rai.

Derived

Cape Ray Ray County raygrantite rayograph Rayson

Proper noun Entry 2

  1. A city near Tehran, Iran.
  2. A region and satrapy in ancient Iran located between the Alborz and Zagros mountain ranges and the Dasht-e Kavir desert; Rhagiana.

Origin

From Persian ری (ray /rey), from Middle Persian, from Old Persian 𐎼𐎥𐎠 (r-g-a /⁠ragā⁠/), a Median district. Compare Akkadian 𒊏𒂵𒀪 (ra-ga-'), Elamite 𒊩𒋡𒀭 (rák-ka₄-an) (loc.), Ancient Greek Ῥάγαι (Rhágai), Latin Rhagae, Rhaganae, Iranian borrowings.

Forms

Rey Rai Rhay Rhey Shahr-e-Rey Shahr-e-Ray Shahr Rey Shahr Ray Chahr-e Ray Rhaga Rhagae Rhaganae Rhages Rages Raga Rayy al-Rayy

Synonyms

Arsacia

Related

Rhazes Rhagiana