The name Kay is found both as a surname (see

Kay (surname) Kay is an English surname. It derives from the Old Breton and Welsh ''cai'' and the Cornish ''key'' meaning "wharf", or from the Old English ''coeg'' meaning "key". The surname is also a diminutive of MacKay and McKay. Notable people with thi ...

) and as a given name. In English-speaking countries, it is usually a feminine name, often a short form of Katherine or one of its variants; but it is also used as a first name in its own right, and also as a masculine name (for example in India, the Netherlands, and Sweden). The alternative spelling of Kaye is encountered as a surname, but also occasionally as a given name: for instance, actress Kaye Ballard.

Name

Female

* Kay Armen (1915–2011), stage name of Armenuhi Manoogian, American Armenian singer *

Kay Bailey Hutchison Kay Bailey Hutchison (born Kathryn Ann Bailey; July 22, 1943) is an American attorney, television correspondent, politician, diplomat, and was the 22nd United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2017 until 2021. A member of the Republi ...

(born 1943), American lawyer, politician, and diplomat *

Kay (singer) Goldie Boutilier (born Kristin Kathleen Boutilier, July 31, 1988), known previously by her stage names My Name Is Kay, Kay, and Goldilox, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, model and DJ. Born and raised in Reserve Mines, Nova Scotia, Boutilier m ...

(born 1985), Canadian singer-songwriter * Kay Burley (born 1960), Sky News founder and presenter * Kay Copland, Scottish sport shooter *

Kay Elson Kay Selma Elson (born 25 January 1947), Australian politician, was a Liberal Member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1996 until her retirement in November 2007. Kay represented the Division of Forde, Queensland.Kay Francis Kay Francis (born Katharine Edwina Gibbs; January 13, 1905 – August 26, 1968) was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 an ...

(1905–1968), American actress * Kay Hagan (1953–2019), American politician * Kay Hull (born 1954), Australian politician *

Kay Kendall Kay Kendall (21 May 1927 – 6 September 1959) was an English actress and comedienne. She began her film career in the musical film '' London Town'' (1946), a financial failure. Kendall worked regularly until her appearance in the comedy film ...

(1927–1959), British actress and comedian * Kay Kinsman (1909–1998), Canadian artist and writer * Kay Lahusen (1930–2021), American photographer, writer and gay rights activist * Kay Matheson (1928-2013), teacher, Gaelic scholar, one of four students involved in the

1950 removal of the Stone of Scone On Christmas Day 1950, four Scottish students from the University of Glasgow ( Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart) stole the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey in London and took it back to Scotland. The students were m ...

. * Kay Mazzo (born 1946), American ballet dancer and educator * Kay A. Orr (1939), 36th governor of Nebraska, US * Kay Toinette

K. T. Oslin Kay Toinette Oslin (May 15, 1942 – December 21, 2020) was an American country music singer-songwriter. She had several years of major commercial success in the late 1980s after signing a record deal at age 45. Oslin had four number one hits and ...

(1942–2020), American country music singer-songwriter * Kay Panabaker (born 1990), American actress * Kay Parker (born 1944), English pornographic actress * Kay Purcell (1963–2020), English actress * Kay Redfield Jamison (born 1946), American psychologist and writer *

Kay Starr Katherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr performed multip ...

(1922–2016), stage name of Katherine Starks, American pop and jazz singer *

Kay Tse Kay Tse On-kay (; born 13 March 1977) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer. She is a prominent figure in Hong Kong music and popular culture and was once frequently referred to in the media as a "grass-roots diva" and "goddess". She is known for song ...

(born 1977), Hong Kong Cantopop singer * Kay Thompson (1909–1998), American author

Male

Kay Bell Kay Dee Bell (October 14, 1914 – October 27, 1994) was an American football player who played two seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Chicago Bears and New York Giants. He was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the tenth round ...

, American football player and professional wrestler *

Kay Christofferson Kay J. Christofferson is an American politician and a Republican member of the Utah House of Representatives representing District 53. Early life Christofferson was born in Lehi, Utah. Education Christofferson earned his degree in civil engi ...

, American politician *

Kay van Dijk Kay van Dijk (born 25 June 1984) is a Dutch volleyball player, a member of Netherlands men's national volleyball team in 2003-2013 and Persian club Peykan Tehran volleyball club, a participant of the Olympic Games Athens 2004, a silver medalist ...

, Dutch volleyball player * Kay Kyser, American bandleader and radio personality *

Kay Pollak Kay Gunnar Leopold Pollak (born 21 May 1938) is a Swedish film director. Career After a long break from film-making, he returned in 2004 with ''As It Is in Heaven'' (''Så som i himmelen''), a major box office success in Sweden. The film was nomi ...

, Swedish film director *

Kay Stephenson George Kay Stephenson (born December 17, 1944) is an American former college and professional football player and retired coach, whose latter career has seen him work in four different professional leagues. Stephenson played quarterback for the ...

, American football player and coach *

Prince Kay One Kenneth Glöckler (born 7 September 1984) is a German rapper known as Kay One. He is also known as Prince Kay One. Life and career 1984–2006: Early life, Royal Bunker and German Dream Kay One was born in Friedrichshafen as second son ...

, German singer and rapper *

Kay Nielsen Kay Rasmus Nielsen (March 12, 1886 – June 21, 1957) was a Danish illustrator who was popular in the early 20th century, the Golden Age of Illustration which lasted from when Daniel Vierge and other pioneers developed printing technology to the ...

, Danish illustrator

Fictional characters

* Agent K, a character in the ''Men In Black'' film series and animated series *

Kay Adams-Corleone This is a list of characters from the film series ''The Godfather'' consisting of ''The Godfather'' (1972), ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974) and ''The Godfather Part III'' (1990), based on Mario Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same name, as ...

, a character in Mario Puzo's novel ''The Godfather''. * Sir Kay, character from Arthurian legend *

Kay Harker Kay Harker is a fictional character, the young hero of the books ''The Midnight Folk'' and ''The Box of Delights'' by John Masefield, and the BBC series of ''The Box of Delights''. The series ran in 1984, where the character was played by actor D ...

, character from the book ''The Box of Delights'' by John Masefield. *

Kay The name Kay is found both as a surname (see Kay (surname)) and as a given name. In English-speaking countries, it is usually a feminine name, often a short form of Katherine or one of its variants; but it is also used as a first name in its own ...

, a protagonist in the video game ''Legend of Kay''. * Kay, also spelled Kai, a character in Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale ''

The Snow Queen "The Snow Queen" ( da, Snedronningen) is an original fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was first published 21 December 1844 in '' New Fairy Tales. First Volume. Second Collection'' (''Nye Eventyr. Første Bind. Anden Samli ...

'' *

, a character in the Vertigo comic series ''Fables''. * Kay Faraday, a character in ''Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth'' * Kay Engel, a character in ''Freier Fall (2013 film)''. * Kay, protagonist from the video game

Sea of Solitude ''Sea of Solitude'' is an adventure video game developed by Jo-Mei Games and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released for Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in July 2019. A director's cut version of the game was announced at The Gam ...

Name

Female

Male

Fictional characters

See also