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. In England, the Kay(e)s of Lancashire and Yorkshire are believed to be related to the ancient Kaye family of Woodesham, Yorkshire, and there is also a Kay Family Association.
Notable people with this surname include:
Adam Kay, British writer
Alan Kay, American computer scientist and visionary
Alec Kay (1879–1917), Scottish footballer
Alex J. Kay, British historian
Andrew Kay, American computer company CEO
Anthony Kay, American baseball player
Antony Kay, English footballer (see also Tony Kay below)
Barnaby Kay, English actor
Barry Kay, Australian scenery and costume designer; photographer
Beatrice Kay, American actress
Ben Kay, English rugby player
Bernard Kay, British actor
Billie Kay (born 1989), Australian professional wrestler
Brian Kay, British singer and conductor
Charles Kay, British actor
Connie Kay, American jazz drummer
Crystal Kay, J-pop singer
David Kay, American scientist
Dianne Kay, American actress
Don Kay (composer), Tasmanian composer
Dorothy Kay (1886–1964), Irish-born South African artist
Doug Kay, football coach
Elizabeth Kay, British writer
Emma Kay, British artist
George Frederick Kay (1873–1943), American geologist
Guy Gavriel Kay, Canadian fantasy writer
Hadley Kay, Canadian voice actor
Iain Kay, Zimbabwean farmer and politician
Jackie Kay, British poet and author
James Ellsworth De Kay, American zoologist
James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth, British physician and politician
Janet Kay, British singer of Jamaican descent
Jason Kay, British singer Jay Kay of band Jamiroquai
John Kay (disambiguation), multiple people
John Walcott Kay, American physician
Joseph Kay (disambiguation), multiple people
June Kay, American civil rights activist
Karen Kay (TV personality), British entertainer and mother of Jay Kay
Kathie Kay, Scottish singer
Katty Kay (born 1964), British journalist
Kay Kay, Indian playback singer
Lesli Kay, American actress
Leslie Ronald Kay, British executive head of Universities Central Council on Admissions
Lily E. Kay, historian of science
Lisa Kay, actress
Lori Kay, artist
Manuela Kay, German writer and journalist
Margaret Kay (c. 1904–1967), Aboriginal Australian museum owner and caretaker of sacred site
Marshall Kay, American geologist
Mary Kay (landscape photographer), Greek photographer
Melody Kay, American actress
Michael Kay (disambiguation), multiple people
Michael Howard Kay, British software developer
Neal Kay, British DJ
Norman Kay (disambiguation), multiple people
Paul Kay, American linguist
Paula Kay, American politician
Peter Kay, British comedian
Peter Kay (rugby union)
Peter Edmund Kay (1853–1909), horticulturalist
Phil Kay, Scottish stand-up comedian
Ray Kay, Norwegian film director
Richard Kay (disambiguation), multiple people
Robert Kay (disambiguation), multiple people
Scott Kay, Jewelry Designer
Sonny Kay, American record label owner
Susan Kay, British writer
Terry Kay, American writer
Tom Kay (footballer, born 1883), English footballer
Tom Kay (footballer, born 1892), English footballer
Tony Kay, English footballer (see also Antony Kay above)
Ughtred Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baron Shuttleworth
Ulysses Kay, American composer
Vernon Kay (born 1974), British television presenter
Violet McNeish Kay (1914–1971), Scottish artist
Wendell P. Kay (1913–1986), American attorney and politician
William Kay (disambiguation), multiple people
Willie Otey Kay, American dressmaker