Roy Family History
Roy Name Meaning
Scottish: nickname for a person with red hair or a ruddy complexion from Gaelic ruadh ‘red’. Compare Reed . English (of Norman origin): from Old French roi ‘king’ used as a nickname (see 3 below) and also as a personal name. Compare Ray French and Walloon: from Old French rey roy ‘king’ (from Latin rex) a nickname for someone who lived in a regal fashion or who had earned the title in some contest of skill or by presiding over festivities. This may also be a habitational name from (Le) Roy the name of several places in various parts of France and in Belgium (Wallonia). Compare Deroy and Leroy . Germanized or Americanized form of Polish Sorbian Czech and Slovenian Roj or Polish and Sorbian Rój: probably a nickname for an irascible quick-tempered man or perhaps a metonymic occupational name for a beekeeper from Lower Sorbian Czech and Slovenian roj Polish and Upper Sorbian rój ‘swarm (of bees)’. Indian (Bengal) and Bangladeshi: variant of Rai .
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022