Reposted from the Genforum Scotland forum
From The Surnames of Scotland" by Dr. G.F. Black
Keay is a variant of Kay.
There was an old family named Kay in Yorkshire.
Kay and Kaye occur in various parts of England as far back as 13th century.
The Welsh forename Kei comes from the Latin Caius.

It may be connected to the MacKay or Macaoidh family.
The MacKays of the Isle of Man dropped the Mac. Early examples are Kee 1610, Kay 1617, Key 1616, Kie 1618. Some Scottish branches may have dropped the Mac earlier.
The spelling Keay was common in Perthshire.

Other spellings: Qua 1317, Ka 1399, Kaa 1370, Cay 1474, Kay 1552, Kae 1667.

Hello, I just want to enquire, about the rumour that the Mac'
was removed, when a clan was accused of cowardice.
This was my father's favourite story as to how the Kay surname originated.

Good Luck, from Sheila Ives

Hi

My father told me this as well. He said that he had researched the family name as far back as the Kay/Davidson clan of Scotland.

As he is no longer alive I cannot confirm this though.

Regards
Graham

Hi Graham,

Who is your earliest KAY? I descend from James KAY of Birdhole, ENG. There are KAY books back to Sir KAY,
King Arthur's brother published by the KAY Family Association at this website: http://robertkayfamily.org/
and one for the UK at: http://www.kayfamilyassociationuk.com/

I haven't tried the Robert Kay site for awhile and have never tried the UK one.

If you send me your names I will see if I can find them in my database.

Marcie
San Martin, CA

Hi Marcie

Only just started to look at geneology.
Typical scenario as only really know details as far back as my grandparents all of whom are dead.
My father cannot help either as he is dead.
My mother cannot help much either.

I am Graham Albert Lindsay Kay b. 02/06/1959, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, Englland, son of Albert William Kay b. 17/02/1929, London, England, d. 28/12/1976, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, son of Albert Ernest Kay b. 20/03/1906, London England d. ??/11/2000, Croydon, Surrey, England, son of Alfred Kay (I think) b. ??/??/??? d. ??/??/????

I know that my Grandfather came from a very large family (about 10/11 brothers and sisters who all survived into 'old age').

I have a photograph with names somewhere and will look to dig it out.

In England there seem to be concentrations of Kay's in Durham, Yorkshire and London and I have seen the Kay trees in the U.S. at this early stage have no idea how far back my linkages go.

In the UK it seems that on-line it can become quite a costly exercise to track through the various records.

At the moment a TV programme is running on the BBC taking 'Celebrities' through the process and it seems the most effective method is to visit places that house Births, Marriages & Deaths Records.

Not sure yet whether I have the time to entertain all this. My partner, Lesley, is more 'hooked' than me at the moment and is keen to delve deeper.

Regards
Graham

P.S. King Arthur didn't really exist did he!!