How common is the surname Kay?

24,337 people in the United States had the surname Kay in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 12,686 Americans. It ranked 1,467th of 162,253 surnames.

What ethnicity is the surname Kay?

In the 2010 Census, 86% of people named Kay identified as white (not Hispanic), and 5.9% as Black (not Hispanic).

Who is the most famous person named Kay?

Alan Kay, American computer scientist (born 1940), followed by Robbie Kay.

Where is the surname Kay most common?

Wikidata records people named Kay in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 1 other country.

Is the surname Kay getting more or less common?

More common. 23,189 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 24,337 in 2010, up 5.0%.

Is Kay also a first name?

Yes. Kay is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Kay

A surname, carried by 24,337 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈkeɪ/ 1 syllable Soundex K000 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kay is more common than 99.1% of them.

Origin

A surname from Middle English, derived from several Old and Middle English words; also adopted by immigrants whose surnames began with a K.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 24,337 people named Kay in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 12,686 Americans. That is up 5.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 23,189.

#1,467

rank among US surnames

24,337

people in 2010

8.3

per 100,000 Americans

+5%

change since 2000 (was #1,402)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,458	Burrell	24,504	12,600
#1,459	Funk	24,419	12,644
#1,460	Crowder	24,396	12,656
#1,461	Schulz	24,385	12,661
#1,462	Sanderson	24,384	12,662
#1,464	Tolbert	24,375	12,666
#1,465	Lund	24,347	12,681

Who is named Kay

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

86% of people named Kay identified as white (not Hispanic), 5.9% as Black (not Hispanic) and 3.5% as Asian and Pacific Islander.

White (not Hispanic) 86%
Black (not Hispanic) 5.9%
Asian and Pacific Islander 3.5%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.5%
Two or more races 1.9%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Kays

18 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Alan Kay
American computer scientist (born 1940)
Robbie Kay
British actor, born 1995
John Kay
American rock musician, born 1944
Connie Kay
American drummer (1927–1994)
Nick Kay
Australian basketball player (born 1992)
Emily Kay
British cyclist, born 1995
Sarah Kay
American poet, born 1988
Allysin Kay
American professional wrestler, born 1987
Lesli Kay
American actress (born 1965)
Stephen Kay
American actor, director and writer of film and television, born 1963
Dianne Kay
American actress, born 1954
Andrew Kay
American businessman (1919–2014)

Notable Kays come mostly from the United States (12), the United Kingdom (4) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Variant spellings

Kaye
Keay

Surnames that sound like Kay

Kay has the Soundex code K000, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K000.

Questions

How common is the surname Kay?: 24,337 people in the United States had the surname Kay in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 12,686 Americans. It ranked 1,467th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Kay?: In the 2010 Census, 86% of people named Kay identified as white (not Hispanic), and 5.9% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Kay?: Alan Kay, American computer scientist (born 1940), followed by Robbie Kay.
Where is the surname Kay most common?: Wikidata records people named Kay in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 1 other country.
How do you pronounce Kay?: Kay is /ˈkeɪ/, one syllable.
Is the surname Kay getting more or less common?: More common. 23,189 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 24,337 in 2010, up 5.0%.
What are other spellings of Kay?: Kaye and Keay.
Is Kay also a first name?: Yes. Kay is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.