| Frequency Comparisons | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Rank | Frequency % | Per million people | |
| United States | ||||
| United States (Current snapshot) | 23,189 | 1402 | 0.009 | 86 |
| United States (1880 census) | 3,970 | 1549 | 0.008 | 79 |
| Change since 1880 | +19219 | +147 | +0.001 | +7 |
| Other Countries | ||||
| Australia | 3,450 | 433 | 0.021 | 211 |
| United Kingdom | 16,664 | 340 | 0.036 | 363 |
| Top States for KAY by Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Total | Rank in State | Frequency % | Per million people |
| California | 2,643 | 1220 | 0.008 | 78 |
| Texas | 1,623 | 1513 | 0.008 | 78 |
| Florida | 1,531 | 1341 | 0.010 | 96 |
| New York | 1,254 | 1435 | 0.007 | 66 |
| South Carolina | 1,114 | 568 | 0.028 | 278 |
| Top States for KAY by Frequency | ||||
| State | Total | Rank in State | Frequency % | Per million people |
| South Carolina | 1,114 | 568 | 0.028 | 278 |
| Utah | 594 | 451 | 0.027 | 266 |
| Nevada | 259 | 862 | 0.013 | 130 |
| New Hampshire | 155 | 1253 | 0.013 | 125 |
| Washington | 622 | 1137 | 0.011 | 106 |
'A figure of zero indicates that we don't have data for this name (usually because it's quite uncommon and our stats don't go down that far). It doesn't mean that there's no-one with that name at all!
For less common surnames, the figures get progressively less reliable the fewer holders of that name there are. This data is aggregated from several public lists, and some stats are interpolated from known values. The margin of error is well over 100% at the rarest end of the table!
For less common surnames, the frequency and "per million" values may be 0 even though there are people with that name. That's because they represent less than one in a million of the population, which ends up as 0 after rounding.
It's possible for a surname to gain in rank and/or total while being less common per million people (or vice versa) as there are now more surnames in the USA as a result of immigration. In mathematical terms, the tail has got longer, with a far larger number of less common surnames.
Figures for top states show firstly the states where most people called KAY live. This obviously tends to be biased towards the most populous states. The second set of figures show where people called KAY represent the biggest proportion of the population. So, in this case, there are more people called KAY in California than any other state, but you are more likely to find a KAY by picking someone at random in South Carolina than anywhere else.
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: Scotland
Language of origin: Gaelic
Ethnic origin: Celtic
Religious origin: Christian
Name derivation: From given name or forename
Data for religion and/or language relates to the culture in which the KAY surname originated. It does not necessarily have any correlation with the language spoken, or religion practised, by the majority of current American citizens with that name.
Data for ethnic origin relates to the region and country in which the KAY surname originated. It does not necessarily have any correlation with the ethnicity of the majority of current American citizens with that name.
| Classification | Total | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Asian/Pacific | 742 | 3.2 |
| White (Hispanic) | 357 | 1.54 |
| Mixed Race | 348 | 1.5 |
| Native American/Alaskan | 174 | 0.75 |
| White (Caucasian) | 20,360 | 87.8 |
| Black/African American | 1,210 | 5.22 |
Ethnic distribution data shows the number and percentage of people with the KAY surname who reported their ethnic background as being in these broad categories in the most recent national census.
(origin: Local) In Cor. Br., signifies a hedge, inclosure, a place of security, a fortified place. Kai, German, is a quay, a wharf.
Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.
KAYE. KAY. " The family of Kaye," says an old statement, " is of great antiquity in the county of York, being descended from Sir Kaye, an ancient Briton, and one of the KnigliU of the warliliS Table of that noUe Prince Arthur, floiver of cMvalrij ! .'" It is added that his descendant at the period of the " Norman Duke that made Conquest of England, was Sir John Kaye, Knight, who married the daughter and heir of Sir John ■\7oodesliam, of Woodesham, Knight, AK AXCIENT Briton ! 1" Not to speculate upon the age in round centuries that Miss Woodesham must have been at the time of her nuptials, we may ask, where is the proof of a De Woodesham or a De anything in England " before the time of the Conquest," when this match is alleged to have taken place ? The truth seems to be, that at "Woodsome in Yorkshire there resided in very early times a family of Kay, Keay, or Kaye, the head of which, some centuries later was created a baronet by Charles I. The patent expired in 1810, but was revived shortly afterwards in favour of the reputed son of the fifth baronet. The name may be a modification of Caius or some other personal designation.
Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.
The following names have similar spellings or pronunciations as KAY.
This does not necessarily imply a direct relationship between the names, but may indicate names that could be mistaken for this one when written down or misheard.
Matches are generated automatically by a combination of Soundex, Metaphone and Levenshtein matching.