Fay Family History
Fay Name Meaning
English: nickname for a person believed to have supernatural qualities from Middle English Old French faie ‘fairy witch’ (from Late Latin fata ‘fate destiny’). English: nickname for a trustworthy person from Middle English Old French fei ‘loyalty trust’. English (of Norman origin) and French: habitational name from any of various places in France named with Old French faie (from Latin fagus) ‘beech’ such as Fay in Orne Sarthe or Somme or a topographic name from someone living by a beech tree or beech wood. Compare Faye . Irish: variant of Fahey or Fee . German: from a short form of the female personal name Sophia (see Sofia ). Chinese: possibly from Cantonese form of the Chinese name 輝 (meaning ‘glorious’) a monosyllabic personal name or part of a disyllabic personal name of some early Chinese immigrants in the US.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022