Kay

English, diminutive of Katherine

"pure"

Updated Sun Nov 03 2024

Show me Kay as a boy's name →

Kay Origin and Meaning

The name Kay is a girl's name of English origin.

Kay, a cigarette-smoking, nightclubbing name of the 1930's, could be ready for a comeback along with cousins May/Mae and Ray/Rae.

Kay has been out of sight since the mid-eighties, but was in the double digits from 1936 to 1945, attached to several glamorous actresses of the period, such as fashion plate Kay Francis, as well as Eloise author Kay Thompson.

Kay was also once a unisex name, as in Sir Kay, in Arthurian legend one of the Knights of the Round Table.

Bottom line: Parents in search of a fresh, more cosmopolitan alternative to Kate might consider Kay..

# 999 in the US

Kay Rank in US Top 1000

Kay Popularity

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20 Names Similar to Kay

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Famous People Named Kay

Kathryn Ann "Kay" Bailey Hutchison
U.S. Senator from Texas
Katherine Linn "Kay" Sage
American surrealist artist
Kay Starr (born Katherine Laverne Starks)
American singer
(Stephanie) Kay Panabaker
American actress
Marsha "Miss Kay" Robertson
matriarch on TV's "Duck Dynasty"
Kay Redfield Jamison
American clinical psychologist
Kay Thompson (born Catherine Louise Fink)
American children's author
(Justine) Kay Kendall
English actress
Kay Ann Lenz
American actress
Kay Francis (born Katharine Edwina Gibbs)
American actress
Kristin "Kay" Boutilier
Canadian singer,songwriter

Katharine Faulkner "Kay" Swift
American composer, namesake of musical "Oh, Kay!"

Kay in Pop Culture

Mary Kay
American cosmetics company
Kay Jewelers
chain with motto "Every kiss begins with Kay"
Katherine "Kay" Corleone
character from "The Godfather"
Kay Bennett
character on soap "Passions"
"If You See Kay
" a song by alternative rock band The Script
Kay Faraday
from Ace Attorney Investigations
Kay Scarpetta
character in books by Patricia Cornwell
Lady Kay
character in musical "Oh, Kay!"

Kay