Kay

Where Kay comes from

Wiktionary's etymology listing comes up empty for Kay.

  • Welsh
  • 1 syllable
  • Vowel-ended
Kay through the years
  1. 1885
    First appearance
    #921 among girls with 6 babies, the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1885
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name. From this year on, more girls have.
  3. 1941
    Peak, #70
    3,538 babies named Kay, its best rank.
  4. 1944
    Kay Ivey born
    Governor of Alabama since 2017
  5. 1963
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #212.
  6. 1990
    Kay Panabaker born
    American actress
In the dictionary
  • A surname from Middle English, derived from several Old and Middle English words; also adopted by immigrants whose surnames began with a K.
  • A male given name from Welsh, derived from the surnames, or from a rare medieval given name (as the Sir Kay of Arthurian legend), Welsh Cai, Latinized as Caius, related to the modern male name Kai.
  • A female given name, a short form of Katherine and other female names beginning with a "K"; popular as a middle name.
Namesakes
  • Kay Ivey · Governor of Alabama since 2017, born 1944
  • Kay Panabaker · American actress, born 1990
  • Kay Bailey Hutchison · American politician, born 1943
  • Kay Francis · American actress, 1905–1968
  • Kay Kendall · English actress, 1927–1959

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.