Roy

See also: roy

English

Etymology

From various sources:

• Anglo-Norman roy (“king”) a variant of Old French roi, from Latin rēx, rēgem from Proto-Indo-European *h₃rḗǵs (“ruler, king”). Doublet of Rey.
• Scottish Gaelic ruadh (“red, red-haired”) from Old Irish rúad, from Proto-Celtic *roudos from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rewdʰ-.
• Anglicisation of Bengali রায় (raẏ, surname).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹɔɪ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɪ
• Homophone: Roi

Proper noun

Roy (countable and uncountable, plural Roys)

1. (countable) A male given name from Scottish Gaelic.
   • 2003, Minette Walters, Disordered Minds, Macmillan., →ISBN, page 173:

     - - - The real pity is that the only name William Burton remembers is Roy ...it was a popular name in the fifties and sixties so there were probably quite a few of them."
     "Not that popular," said George. "Surely it's Roy Trent?"
     "Roy Rogers...Roy Orbison... Roy of the Rovers...Roy Castle..."
     "At least one of those was a comic-book character," said Andrew.
     "So? Bill Clinton and David Beckham named their children after places. All I'm saying is we can't assume Roy Trent from Roy."

2. (countable) A surname.
   1. A surname from Anglo-Norman.
   2. A surname from Old French.
   3. A surname from Scottish Gaelic.
   4. A surname from Bengali.
3. A placename
   1. A city in Utah, United States.
   2. A river and glen (see Glen Roy) in Highland council area, Scotland, United Kingdom

Derived terms

• Roybridge
• Roy Bridge

 

Descendants

• → French: Roy
• → Norwegian: Roy
  • → Norwegian Nynorsk: Roy
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: Roy
• → Swedish: Roy

Statistics

• According to the 2010 United States Census, Roy is the 640^th most common surname in the United States, belonging to 53,159 individuals. Roy is most common among White (75.20%) individuals.

Anagrams

• RYO, ryo, ryō, yor, -ory

French

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old French roy (literally “king, ruler”). Doublet of roi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁwa/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: roi, rois, roua, rouas, rouât

Proper noun

Roy m or f

1. a surname

Descendants

• English: Roy

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English Roy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɔj/

Proper noun

Roy m

1. (Canada) a male given name from English
2. (Canada) a surname from English
3. (Canada) a surname from French

Norwegian

Etymology

Borrowed from English Roy in the 19th century.

Proper noun

Roy

1. a male given name from English

Old Leonese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈroi̯/

Proper noun

Roy m

1. a male given name
   • 1241, Document from San Pedro de Eslonza^[1]:

     Pedro Rodriguez fiyo de Roy de Vega.

     Pedro Rodriguez son of Roy de Vega.

   • 1225, Fuero enmendado del concejo de Sahagún otorgado por Alfonso X en romance, con acuerdo del abad y convento del monasterio, en cuya cláusula final se concede como supletorio el fuero del libro real:

     Roy Suarez Merino mayor en Gallicia

     Roy Suarez Merino mayor in Galicia

Derived terms

• Roiz

References

1. Staaff, Erik (1907) Étude sur L’Ancien Dialecte Léonais d’après des Chartes du XIIIe Siècle, Heidelberg, page 127

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English Roy in the 19th century.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Roy c (genitive Roys)

1. a male given name from English