Where the Ray name comes from

The surname Ray has several origins. One began as a nickname from the Old French rei or roy, meaning "king", which may have marked pride, regal bearing or someone who presided over festive celebrations. Early records include William Lerei in Norfolk in 1195 and Robert Raie in Cambridgeshire in 1206.

Another came from the northern Middle English ra, rae or ray, meaning "roe deer", a nickname for a timid person or a swift runner. A Scottish line comes from the Gaelic Mac Raith, "son of grace", recorded as Alexander Macrad in Dunbartonshire around 1225. Some families carry it as a form of Rye, a name for someone who lived on an island or near a river, first written as William de Rye in Essex in 1240. As a French surname it comes from the verb raier, "to gush out, flow, radiate", and as an Indian surname it is a variant of Rai.