Toy is a Chinese, English, and Turkish surname.

Origins

As an

English surname English names are names used in, or originating in, England. In England as elsewhere in the English-speaking world, a complete name usually consists of a given name, commonly referred to as a first name, and a (most commonly patrilineal) family ...

, Toy originated in two or three different ways. First, it was a nickname, either from

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

"trifling thing; play, sport", or from

Middle French Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from t ...

"sheath". Second, it was a relational name, from the given name Toye (whose origin is not clear). Finally, it may have been a

toponymic surname A toponymic surname or topographic surname is a surname derived from a place name.

referring to a former settlement probably located in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

. Early records of the English surname Toy include a Robert Toy of Gainford in the

patent roll The patent rolls (Latin: ''Rotuli litterarum patentium'') are a series of administrative records compiled in the English, British and United Kingdom Chancery, running from 1201 to the present day. Description The patent rolls comprise a register ...

s for 1339. As a

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the ...

, Toy is a spelling, based on the pronunciation in different

varieties of Chinese Chinese, also known as Sinitic, is a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family consisting of hundreds of local varieties, many of which are not mutually intelligible. Variation is particularly strong in the more mountainous southeast of main ...

, of the following Chinese surnames, listed by their spelling in

Hanyu Pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

, which reflects the

Standard Mandarin Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standar ...

pronunciation: * Cài (), spelled Toy based on its

Taishanese Taishanese (), alternatively romanized in Cantonese as Toishanese or Toisanese, in local dialect as Hoisanese or Hoisan-wa, is a dialect of Yue Chinese native to Taishan, Guangdong. Although it is related to Cantonese, Taishanese has little ...

pronunciation. See also , Toy, entry #5. This is a toponymic surname referring to the

state of Cai Cài (; Old Chinese: *s.r̥ˤat-s) was an ancient Chinese state established at the beginning of the Zhou dynasty, rising to prominence during the Spring and Autumn period, and destroyed early in the Warring States period. History Following his ...

, adopted as a surname by some people of the state after its conquest by the

state of Chu Chu, or Ch'u in Wade–Giles romanization, (, Hanyu Pinyin: Chǔ, Old Chinese: ''*s-r̥aʔ'') was a Zhou dynasty vassal state. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BCE. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou hea ...

during China's

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in History of China#Ancient China, ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded ...

. * Tái (), spelled Toy based on its mainstream

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

pronunciation (). According to the ''

Shuowen Jiezi ''Shuowen Jiezi'' () is an ancient Chinese dictionary from the Han dynasty. Although not the first comprehensive Chinese character dictionary (the '' Erya'' predates it), it was the first to analyze the structure of the characters and to give ...

'', the surname Tái originated as a toponymic surname referring to the city by the same name in modern-day

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...

. Toy is also a

Turkish surname A Turkish name consists of an ''ad'' or an ''isim'' (given name; plural ''adlar'' and ''isimler'') and a ''soyadı'' or ''soyisim'' (surname). Turkish names exist in a "full name" format. While there is only one ''soyadı'' (surname) in the full na ...

, from "

bustard Bustards, including floricans and korhaans, are large, terrestrial birds living mainly in dry grassland areas and on the steppes of the Old World. They range in length from . They make up the family Otididae (, formerly known as Otidae). Bustards ...

Statistics

According to statistics compiled by

Patrick Hanks Patrick Hanks (born 24 March 1940) is an English lexicographer, corpus linguist, and onomastician. He has edited dictionaries of general language, as well as dictionaries of personal names. Background Hanks was educated at Ardingly College, ...

on the basis of the

2011 United Kingdom Census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

and the

Census of Ireland 2011 The 2011 census of Ireland was held on Sunday, 10 April 2011. It was administered by the Central Statistics Office of Ireland and found the population to be 4,588,252 people.

, there were 895 people on the island of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and five on the island of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

with the surname Toy as of 2011. The

1881 United Kingdom census The United Kingdom Census of 1881 recorded the people residing in every household on the night of Sunday 3 April 1881, and was the fifth of the UK censuses to include details of household members. Data recorded Details collected include: address, ...

found 1,095 people with the surname Toy in various places in England and Scotland, particularly in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

found 5,784 people with the surname Toy, making it the 5,951st-most-common name in the country. This represented a slight increase from 5,730 people (5,567th-most-common) in the 2000 Census. In both censuses, roughly six-tenths of the bearers of the surname identified as

non-Hispanic white Non-Hispanic whites or Non-Latino whites are Americans who are classified as "white", and are not of Hispanic (also known as "Latino") heritage. The United States Census Bureau defines ''white'' to include European Americans, Middle Eastern Amer ...

, and slightly more than one quarter as

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

. It was the 616th-most-common surname among respondents to the 2000 Census who identified as Asian.

People

Barbara Toy Barbara Alex Toy FRGS (11 August 1908 – 18 July 2001) was an Australian-British travel writer, theatrical director, playwright, and screenplay writer. She is most famous for the series of books she wrote about her pioneering and solitary travel ...

(1908–2001), British writer * Barry Toy (born 1939), Australian rules footballer *

Camden Toy Camden Toy is an American actor, screenwriter, and film editor. He is best known as a character actor, often under special effects prosthetic makeup. He has acted in over one hundred independent films, and a number of television roles. Early ...

(contemporary), American actor and script writer * Carole Toy (1948–2014), Australian archer *

Crawford Howell Toy Crawford Howell Toy (23 March 183612 May 1919), United States, American Hebrew language, Hebrew scholar, was born in Norfolk, Virginia. He graduated at the University of Virginia in 1856, and studied at the University of Berlin from 1866 to 1868. ...

(1836–1919), American Hebrew scholar *

Emily Toy Emily Toy (born c.1997) is an English professional golfer from Longdowns in Cornwall, winner of The Womens Amateur Championship in 2019. Golf career In July 2015, aged 17, Toy won the English Girls' Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship at Sher ...

(born ), English amateur golfer *

Erol Toy Erol Toy (1 October 1936 – 13 March 2021) was a Turkish writer. Biography Toy was born in Manisa, Turkey, and started work after graduating from secondary school. After working as a baker, banker, creator of the mutual organization of sponge ...

(1936–2021), Turkish writer * Frederick E. Toy (1860s–1933), US Army soldier and recipient of the Medal of Honor * Harry S. Toy (1892–1955), Michigan Attorney General and Michigan Supreme Court justice *

Hasan Toy Hasan Toy (born April 18, 1994) is a Dutch-Turkish kickboxer. Kickboxing career Toy participated in the 2018 Wu Lin Feng 67 kilogram contender tournament, held at Wu Lin Feng 2018: World Championship Tianjin on March 3, 2018. After beating Fen ...

(born 1994), Turkish kickboxer *

Humphrey Toy Humphrey Toy (1537 – 16 October 1577) was a British bookseller and publisher, and the son of bookseller Robert Toy. In 1567, he published the first translation of New Testament in Welsh from the original Greek, translated by his close friend W ...

(1537–1577), British bookseller and publisher * James C. Toy (1836–1889), American Civil War soldier and Virginia politician *

Jim Toy James Willis Toy (April 29, 1930 – January 1, 2022) was a long-time American activist and a pioneer for LGBT rights in Michigan. Toy earned his B.A. at Denison University in 1951. He graduated with a master's degree in Clinical Social Work ...

(1930–2022), American LGBT activist *

Jim Toy (baseball) James Madison Toy (February 20, 1858 – March 13, 1919) was an early Major League Baseball player, possibly with Native American ancestry, having a short two-year career with the Cleveland Blues and the Brooklyn Gladiators, both of the Am ...

(1858–1919), Native American baseball player *

Josh Toy Josh Toy (born 18 April 1992) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was one of Gold Coast's underage recruits, and played in their first se ...

(born 1992), Australian rules footballer * Julie Furuta-Toy (born 1960), American diplomat * Laura M. Toy (born 1951), American politician in Michigan * Mark Toy (), United States Army major general * Metin Toy (born 1994), Turkish volleyball player *

Noel Toy Noel Toy (born Ngum Yee Hom; December 27, 1918 – December 24, 2003) was an American burlesque performer famous for her fan dance and bubble dance, initially at the Forbidden City nightclub in San Francisco, California. Later, she acted ...

(birth name Ngum Yee Hom; 1918–2003), American burlesque performer *

Richard Toy Richard Horton Beauclerc Toy (9 May 1911 – 2 July 1995) was a New Zealand architect renowned for his church architecture. Toy was born in Ignace, Ontario, Canada in 1911. His family moved to New Zealand in 1923. He enrolled in agricultu ...

(1911–1995), New Zealand architect *

Sam Toy Sam Toy (21 August 1923 – 24 March 2008) was a British industrialist who was chair of Ford Motor Company UK from 1980 until 1986. He presided over Ford at a time it faced competition from British Leyland, and saw Ford make their last Cortin ...

(1923–2008), British industrialist and chairman of Ford Motor Company *

Virginia Toy Virginia Gail Toy (born 1979) is a New Zealand geologist who studies Fault (geology), fault zones and earthquakes in New Zealand, Japan and Ecuador. She is one of the leaders of the Deep Fault Drilling Project of New Zealand's Alpine Fault, and w ...

(born 1979), New Zealand geologist

References

{{surname Multiple Chinese surnames Surnames of English origin Turkish-language surnames