Hay
A surname with several possible roots, most often from a hedge, enclosure, or place called La Haie.
The #2,005 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 17,125 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In English and Norman records, Hay is often linked to Old English and Old French words for a hedge or enclosed place, especially Old English haga and Old French haie. In Norman usage it could also refer to a place-name such as La Haie, and bearers may have taken the name from where they lived. In some cases the same spelling may also reflect a local topographic surname connected with a bank, shore, or similar enclosure-like feature.
History
The name appears early in Norman England in forms such as de Haia and de la Hay, and it became established in both England and Scotland. Some families were tied to Norman places named La Haie, while others seem to have acquired the surname from local landscape features. Because the spelling is short and common, it can also overlap with unrelated names and place-name forms in medieval records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
In older English dialect use, hay could mean a hedge or enclosure, not the grassy crop most people think of today.
From the historical record
“had his trappings embroidered with this profane couplet : — "HAY, HAY, THE WYTE SWAX ; BY CODE'S SOUL I AM THY JfAIf." GUTTER. A drain for water. One Joh'es of the Gutter is found in the Nona3 returns, 13il. GUY. The old personal name Guido, probably from Cains, and the Celtic Kei, as Baxter thinks. Glossary, p.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom