Roy

Name list From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origins.

Pronunciation/ˈrɔɪ/
GenderMale
Word/nameOld Norman, Old French, Bengali, Scottish Gaelic
MeaningKing or Red
Quick facts Pronunciation, Gender ...
Roy
Pronunciation/ˈrɔɪ/
GenderMale
Origin
Word/nameOld Norman, Old French, Bengali, Scottish Gaelic
MeaningKing or Red
Region of originWestern Europe
Other names
Alternative spellingRoi
Variant formsLeroy, Leroi, Deroy
Related namesFitzroy, Rex, Rey, Ray, Rai
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France & England

Coat of arms of Le Roy, Normandy. Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Written interchangeably in records as: Roi, Le Roi, De Roy, and Le Roy, the surname Roy originated from the Normans, the descendants of Norse Vikings who settled in Amigny, a commune in Manche, Normandy.[1][2][3] It derived from the Old French roy, roi (French pronunciation: [ʁwa]), meaning "king", or "the king" which was a byname used before the Norman Conquest and a personal name in the Middle Ages.[4]

Originally, Roy may have been a regal name, either from "kingly" bearing, a position of authority, a tournament winner, or one who was in the service of the king.[5] This reflects Norman adaptation of social or martial identifiers — a cultural inheritance from their Viking ancestry, eventually forming a family name that would be passed down.[6][7]

Coat of arms of the Knights Templar

Earliest references cite Guillaume de Roy (William of Roy), who was a knight of the Knights Templar[8][9][10] and one of several knights and feudal lords (seigneur) of the Roy family in France and Switzerland.[11][12][13][14] While born Guillaume Le Roy, the usage of de Roy ("of Roy"), a nobiliary particle, signified hereditary nobility.[15][16][1] Specifically, this was a claimed connection to a lineage of knights and the lord of a fief recognized by the monarch, rather than a simple descriptive surname which was a legal requirement to be a knight of the Templars.[17][18][19] Medieval court scribes consistently translated vernacular names into Latin. Guillaume de Roy is recorded as Guillelmus de Roy, Templar of the Diocese of Soissons, by the scribes during the Trials of the Knights Templar.[20]

Arms of the Association of Roy Families of America.

In Canada and in the United States, the descendants of the families of Roy, Le Roy that immigrated to North America have been granted a coat of arms by the Governor General of Canada.[21][22][23]

Anglo-Norman England

"Roy" Edward III, King of England. Bruges Garter Book.

After the Norman Conquest, the victorious Normans and their allies settled England and eventually formed the ruling class of nobles called Anglo-Normans.[24][2] Roy, or Roi was a family name[25] and also a title that was used by the kings of England & royal administration (such as Norroy and Viceroy).[26][27][28] This is seen with patronymic surnames like Fitzroy, from Fi(t)z, meaning "son of" and Roy, "king", denoting the name bearer as a "son of the king".[29][30][31]

Le Roy le veult ("The King wills it"), is a Norman French phrase still used in the Parliament of the United Kingdom to this day as royal assent. A legacy of a time prior to 1488 when parliamentary and judicial proceedings were conducted in Norman.[32][33]

South Asia

In India and Bangladesh, Roy is a Bengali language variant of the surname Rai, meaning "king". Rai (title) is a historical title of royalty and nobility in the Indian subcontinent used by rulers and chieftains of many princely states. The surname "Roy" is diverse and can be found among upper castes as well as among the scheduled castes.[2]

Scotland

The name Roy is also found in Scotland, an anglicisation from the Scottish Gaelic nickname ruadh, meaning "red".[2]

Given name

Surname

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