Kay is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

surname. It derives from the Old Breton and

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

''cai'' and the Cornish ''key'' meaning "wharf", or from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''coeg'' meaning "key". The surname is also a diminutive of MacKay and

McKay McKay, MacKay or Mackay is a Scottish / Irish surname. The last phoneme in the name is traditionally pronounced to rhyme with 'eye', but in some parts of the world this has come to rhyme with 'hey'. In Scotland, it corresponds to Clan Mackay. No ...

. Notable people with this surname include: *

Alan Kay Alan Curtis Kay (born May 17, 1940) published by the Association for Computing Machinery 2012 is an American computer scientist best known for his pioneering work on object-oriented programming and windowing graphical user interface (GUI) d ...

, American computer scientist and visionary *

Alec Kay Alexander Kay (1879 – 15 February 1917) was a Scottish professional football left back who played in the Scottish League for St Bernard's and Partick Thistle. He also played in the Football League for Sheffield United. Personal life A pre-w ...

(1879–1917), Scottish footballer * Alex J. Kay, British historian *

Andrew Kay Andrew F. Kay (January 22, 1919 – August 28, 2014) was a businessman and innovator. He was President and CEO of Kaypro, a personal computer company, which at one time was the world's fourth largest manufacturer of computers, and the largest i ...

, American computer company CEO * Anthony Kay, American baseball player * Antony Kay, English footballer (see also Tony Kay below) * Barnaby Kay, English actor *

Barry Kay Barry Kay (1932 – 1985) was an Australian stage and costume designer of international renown. After having studied painting at the Académie Julian in Paris and theatre design in Melbourne, he settled in London in 1956. In the course of h ...

, Australian scenery and costume designer; photographer *

Beatrice Kay Beatrice Kay (April 21, 1907– November 8, 1986) was an American singer, vaudevillian, music hall performer, and stage and film actress. Background Born in New York City as Hannah Beatrice Kuper, Kay performed as Honey Kuper and Honey Day fo ...

, American actress *

Ben Kay Benedict James Kay MBE (born 14 December 1975) is a retired English international rugby union footballer who played Second row forward for Leicester Tigers and . Background Kay was born in Liverpool, the only son of Lord Justice of Appeal Si ...

, English rugby player *

Bernard Kay Bernard Frederic Bemrose Kay (23 February 1928 – 25 December 2014) was an English actor with an extensive theatre, television, and film repertoire. Career Kay began his working life as a reporter for the ''Bolton Evening News'', and a str ...

, British actor *

Brian Kay Brian Christopher Kay (born 12 May 1944) is an English radio presenter, conductor and singer. He is well-known as the bass in the King's Singers during the group's formative years from 1968 to 1982, and as such is to be heard on many of their 197 ...

, British singer and conductor *

Connie Kay Conrad Henry Kirnon (April 27, 1927 – November 30, 1994) known professionally as Connie Kay, was an American jazz and R&B drummer, who was a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet. Self-taught on drums, he began performing in Los Angeles in the mid ...

, American jazz drummer *

Crystal Kay is a Japanese singer, songwriter, actress and radio host. After releasing her first single, " Eternal Memories" (1999), Crystal Kay gained fame for her third studio album, '' Almost Seventeen'' (2002), which debuted at number 2 on the Japanese ...

, J-pop singer *

David Kay David A. Kay (June 8, 1940 – August 13, 2022) was an American weapons expert, political commentator, and senior fellow at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. He was best known for his time as United Nations Chief Weapons Inspector follow ...

, American scientist * Dianne Kay, American actress *

Don Kay (composer) Donald Henry Kay AM (born 25 January 1933) is an Australian classical composer. Kay was born on 25 January 1933 in Smithton, Tasmania. He attained a Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Melbourne after which he taught music at Colac ...

, Tasmanian composer * Dorothy Kay (1886–1964), Irish-born South African artist *

Doug Kay Doug Kay is a retired American football coach who was most recently assistant head coach for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League (AFL), which league ceased operations after the 2017 season. He has more than 55 years of football expe ...

, football coach * Elizabeth Kay, British writer * Emma Kay, British artist * George Frederick Kay (1873–1943), American geologist *

Guy Gavriel Kay Guy Gavriel Kay (born November 7, 1954) is a Canadian writer of fantasy fiction. The majority of his novels take place in fictional settings that resemble real places during real historical periods, such as Constantinople during the reign of Jus ...

, Canadian fantasy writer *

Hadley Kay Hadley Kay (born ) is a Canadian film, stage, television and voice actor, best known for his appearances in ''The Care Bears Movie'', '' Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation'' and ''Popples''. Career At age six, he made his film debut opposite ...

, Canadian voice actor *

Iain Kay James Hamilton Iain Kay (born 1949) is a Zimbabwean farmer and politician who served in the House of Assembly from 2009 to 2013. Previously, he was a commercial farmer near Marondera, Mashonaland East Province. He was also the subject of violent ...

, Zimbabwean farmer and politician * Jackie Kay, British poet and author *

James Ellsworth De Kay James Ellsworth De Kay (alternatively spelled DeKay or Dekay) (October 12, 1792 – November 21, 1851) was an American zoologist. Biography James De Kay was born in Lisbon, Portugal, in 1792. When he was two years old, his family moved to New Yor ...

, American zoologist *

James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baronet (20 July 1804 – 26 May 1877, born James Kay) of Gawthorpe Hall, Lancashire, was a British politician and educationist. He founded a further-education college that would eventually become Plymo ...

, British physician and politician *

Janet Kay Janet Kay Bogle (born 17 January 1958) is an English actor and vocalist, best known for her 1979 lovers rock hit "Silly Games". Biography Janet Kay Bogle was born in Willesden, North West London. She was discovered singing impromptu at a rehea ...

, British singer of Jamaican descent * Jason Kay, British singer

Jay Kay Jay Kay (born Jason Luís Cheetham; 30 December 1969) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of the acid jazz and funk band Jamiroquai, which was formed in 1992. Early life Jay Kay was bo ...

of band Jamiroquai * John Kay (disambiguation), multiple people * Joseph Kay (disambiguation), multiple people * June Kay, American civil rights activist *

Karen Kay (TV personality) Karen Kay (born Adrianne Judith Pringle;''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com 18 July 1947) is a British former jazz singer, cabaret singer, comedian and impressionist. She is the mother of Engli ...

, British entertainer and mother of Jay Kay *

Kathie Kay Kathie Kay (20 November 1918 – 9 March 2005) was a singer from Lincolnshire, known for her radio and television appearances in the ''Billy Cotton Band Show'' during the 1950s and 1960s. Her best known recordings are "We Will Make Love" and "A Ho ...

, Scottish singer *

Katty Kay Katherine "Katty" Kay (born 14 November 1964) is a British-Swiss journalist, author and broadcaster. She presented BBC World News America and, with Christian Fraser, hosted ''Beyond 100 Days'' on BBC Four, BBC News and BBC World News. She has an ...

(born 1964), British journalist *

Kay Kay Krishna Kumar Menon (born 2 October 1966), better known by the stage name Kay Kay Menon, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Hindi cinema, and also in Gujarati, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu cinema. Early life Menon was born in a Nair ...

, Indian playback singer * Lesli Kay, American actress *

Leslie Ronald Kay Ronald Kay (4 March 1920 – 17 May 2019) was a British University administrator who was instrumental in establishing the Universities Central Council on Admissions, and who was its chief executive until his retirement in 1985. Early life and ...

, British executive head of

Universities Central Council on Admissions Universities Central Council on Admissions (UCCA) provided a clearing house for university applications in the United Kingdom from its formation in 1961 until its merger with PCAS (Polytechnics Central Admissions System) to form UCAS in 1993. Hi ...

* Lily E. Kay, historian of science * Lisa Kay, actress * Lori Kay, artist * Manuela Kay, German writer and journalist * Margaret Kay (c. 1904–1967), Aboriginal Australian museum owner and caretaker of sacred site * Marshall Kay, American geologist * Mary Kay (landscape photographer), Greek photographer *

Melody Kay Melody Dolor Kay (born August 28, 1979) is an American actress. She starred in several movies including ''Camp Nowhere ''Camp Nowhere'' is a 1994 American adventure comedy film directed by Jonathan Prince, written by Andrew Kurtzman and El ...

, American actress *

Michael Kay (announcer) Michael Kay (born February 2, 1961) is an American sports broadcaster who is the television play-by-play broadcaster of the New York Yankees and host of ''CenterStage'' on the YES Network, and the host of ''The Michael Kay Show'' heard on WEPN-F ...

, American radio and television personality, play-by-play commentator for the New York Yankees * Michael Howard Kay, British software developer *

Neal Kay Neal Kay (born 10 February 1950) is a former London-based disc jockey, who was an important factor in the rise of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM), along with Tommy Vance, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Career Neal Kay has alwa ...

, British DJ * Norman Kay (disambiguation), multiple people *

Paul Kay Paul Kay (born 1934 in New York City, New York) is an emeritus professor of linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, United States. He joined the University in 1966 as a member of the Department of Anthropology, transferring to the ...

, American linguist * Phil Kay, Scottish stand-up comedian *

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...

, British comedian *

Ray Kay Reinert K. Olsen (born 10 July 1978), known professionally as Ray Kay, is a Norwegian director and photographer who is currently based in Los Angeles. He is a music video and advertising director. Ray Kay mostly directs music videos and has wo ...

, Norwegian film director * Richard Kay (disambiguation), multiple people * Robert Kay (disambiguation), multiple people * Scott Kay, Jewelry Designer *

Sonny Kay Sonny Kay is a visual artist and musician. Biography Kay was born in London, England on March 13, 1972, and raised in various locations including the UK, Barcelona (Spain), and Johannesburg (South Africa). His family relocated first to Los Angel ...

, American record label owner * Susan Kay, British writer *

Terry Kay Terry Winter Kay (February 10, 1938 – December 12, 2020) was an American author, whose novels examined life in the American South. His most well-known book, ''To Dance with the White Dog'', was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame television mov ...

, American writer * Tom Kay (footballer, born 1892), English footballer * Tom Kay (footballer, born 1883), English footballer *

Tony Kay Anthony Herbert Kay (born 13 May 1937) is an English former footballer who became notorious after being banned from the professional game for life following the British betting scandal of 1964. Kay played for Sheffield Wednesday before beco ...

, English footballer (see also Antony Kay above) *

Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baron Shuttleworth Ughtred James Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baron Shuttleworth, (18 December 1844 – 20 December 1939), known as Sir Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, Bt, between 1872 and 1902, was a British landowner and Liberal politician. He was Under-Secretary of ...

Ulysses Kay Ulysses Simpson Kay (January 7, 1917 in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson, Arizona – May 20, 1995 in Englewood, New Jersey, Englewood, New Jersey) was an American composer. His music is mostly neoclassicism, neoclassical in style. Life and career Kay, the ...

, American composer *

Vernon Kay Vernon Charles Kay (born 28 April 1974) is an English television and radio presenter, and former model. He presented Channel 4's ''T4'' (2000–2005) and has presented various television shows for ITV, including '' All Star Family Fortunes'' ...

(born 1974), British television presenter * Violet McNeish Kay (1914-1971), Scottish artist *

Wendell P. Kay Wendell Palmer Kay Jr. (August 17, 1913 – June 29, 1986) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician active in the territory and state of Alaska. Biography Born in Illinois, Wendell Palmer Kay, a lawyer, was a member of the Alaska Territ ...

(1913-1986), American attorney and politician * William Kay (disambiguation), multiple people *

Willie Otey Kay Willie Virginia Otey Kay (March 17, 1894 – September 25, 1992) was an African-American dressmaker. She was known for making wedding dresses and debutante gowns for almost sixty years, becoming one of the most sought-after designers for women's f ...

, American dressmaker

References

{{surname, Kay English-language surnames

See also

References