Keys
An English surname that likely began as a name for someone connected with keys, a key-bearer, or an inn or sign called the Cross Keys.
The #1,900 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 16,337 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Keys is usually treated as an English name tied to the word key, with plural or possessive spelling forms such as Keyes and Kyes. In older surname books it was sometimes explained as a nickname or occupational name for someone who carried keys, guarded property, or was otherwise associated with access and custody; another common explanation links it to a house or inn sign, especially 'the Cross Keys.' Some 19th-century writers also connected it with the ecclesiastical symbol of the keys, but that is more a historical association than a single certain source.
History
The name appears in several spelling forms in English records, including Key, Keyes, and Keys. It likely developed independently in more than one way: from an occupation, from a sign-name, or from the symbolic use of keys in church and civic heraldry. The surname is now most familiar in England and the English-speaking world, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The 'Cross Keys' was such a common inn and sign name that it could easily become the basis of a surname.
From the historical record
“friendly man. KEYS. Probably from Keyus, an old Roman word for a ward- en or keeper. KEYSER. (G-er.) An emperor. KID. A young goat ; also, Jfid, from the Saxon Cythan, to show, discover, or make known. KIDDER. A dealer hi corn, provisions, and merchandize ; a traveling trader. KIEF. (Dan.) Brave, valiant, stout, bold.”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian NamesNotable people named Keys
- Madison Keys (b. 1995)
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