History
and Origin of the Gay Surname
Most surnames evolved from four general sources:
occupation, location, patronymic (one's father's name) and characteristic. The
name GAY is believed to be locational and characteristic in origin. It seems to
be associated with the English, meaning, "dweller near Gaye in Normandy
and one who is light-hearted or cheerful in spirit. However, there may be other
meanings as well. Other sources state the name may derive from Gaelic gearr
(short), however the ancient family is said to have originated in Cornwall and
came to Nigg in the northeast of Scotland via Yorkshire. There are several spelling variations of the
"Gay" surname. Some are Gayre, Gaye, Gair, Gear, Legay and Gai. So
there may be others of our Gay relatives living who are using one of these
variations.
Ancient records contain the name in the form Gaye,
but the spelling Gay is the one most widely used today in England and America.
At early dates families of this name were found in the Channel Islands after
the Normandy Conquest. They were located in the English countries of Oxford,
Somerset, Kent, Norfolk and London. The
earliest records of the name in England are Adam le Gay of Oxford shire in the
year 1273, Robert le Gay of Oxford shire a little later and William Gay of
Somersetshire in 1327. In the latter
fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries records are found of John Gay of
Devonshire and wife Alice. It is believed by historians that their son was
named John and married Miss Gambon and their son was William who married Alice
Fleere. Others believe that the first John Gay and wife Alice were the parents
of William Gay. The certainty of the correct descendant is unsure. However
William Gay and wife Alice Fleere had the following children: John, Anthony,
Richard, Andrew, Thomas and others.
Anthony Gay and his first wife Joan (Juell or
Inett) had Thomas and Joan Gay. Thomas Gay married Alice Pollard and was the
father by her of John, Edward, William, Gregory, Philip and others. The lineage
does continue, but the writer will stop at this point as I only wanted to show
the existence of the first connections of the Gay family in Devon shire.
A Thomas Gay lived in County Kent in the latter
part of the fifteenth century and was the father of a son named Christopher, who
died in 1507. Christopher Gay had one known son named Humphrey Gay, who had
Christopher, Edmund and Thomas.
Represented in Norfolk County in the later part of
the sixteenth century was William Gay. His eldest son, William was the father
of Philip, who was the father of Philip. The latter Philip Gay married Alice
Parker and was the father of John and William Gay. William inherited the family
estates after the death of his elder brother, John. William Gay and wife
Margaret Daines had a son named John, as well as others. John was married to
Elizabeth Bell in 1695 and they had John and other children as well. It is not
clear which lines in England that the first Gay settlers to America descended,
however it appears in many old records that they were among the early British
settlers to America.
A John Gay from England is believed to have been
the first of the name in America and he settled in Watertown, MA in about 1630.
He may well be the ancestor of most of the Gays in America. However, in 1638 a
Henry Gay arrived in the New World aboard the ship "Safety". There
are genealogical records showing he settled in the Isle of Wight County, VA.
and may have been a Quaker. Henry Gay
had three children Henry II, John and Thomas. Henry Gay II made his will in Isle
of Wight , VA on February 3, 1735-1736 naming children Henry, John, Thomas,
William, Joshua, Ann and Sara. Descendants of these families can be found in
many states across America.
John Gay of Watertown, MA. and his wife, Joanna
Unknown, widow of Mr. Borden had eleven children, Samuel, Hezekiah, Nathaniel,
Joanna, Eliezar, Abiel, Judith, John, Jonathan, Hannah and Elizabeth. Their
descendants are as follows: 1. Samuel Gay married Mary Bridge in 1661 and had
Samuel, Edward, John, Hezakiah and Timothey.
2. Hezekiah Gay died without issue at about nineteen years of age. 3. Nathaniel Gay of Medfield, MA. married
Lydia Lusher and had Benjamin and Daniel who both died young, Mary, Lydia, Nathaniel, Lusher, Joanna,
Benjamin, Abigail and Ebenezer. 4.
Joanna Gay 5. Eliezar Gay was married
to a woman named Lydia and they had Eliezar, Lydia and John. 6. Abiel Gay 7. Judith Gay 8. John
Gay married Rebecca Bacon and they had Rebecca, John, Stephen, Abigail and
Hezekiah. 9. Johathan Gay married Mary
Bullard in 1687. They had Hannah, Mary, Jeremiah, Sarah, Jonathan and Abigail.
Some historians believe that another John Gay also resided in Watertown, MA.
around 1688. His wife was named Hannah and they had two children, Hannah and
Thomas.
In Henrico and Chesterfield Co., VA. there was a
Dr. William Gay in the early eighteenth century. Before 1730 he married
Elizabeth Bolling and had John, William, Elizabeth and Mary. Also around 1744 six brothers, William,
James, John, Robert, Henry and Samuel Gay and their sister Elizabeth came from
Ireland and made their homes in the south. William married Margaret Walkup and
had a daughter named Margaret as well as other children. John married Jean
Ramsey and had a daughter named Jean and a son. Robert Gay settled in Augusta County, VA. about 1750 was possibly
descended from the afore mentioned branch of the family. He moved to Pocahontas
County County, West Virginia around 1775. His wife was Hannah Moore and they
had eight children Samuel, George, Andrew, Robert, James, Jennie, Sallie and
Agnes. These Gays and possibly other
branches of the family have spread to many states across America and have aided
in the growth and expansion of the country as did their ansestors in its founding. An ancient coat of arms of the English
family of Gay is described in heraldic terms as (Burke, General Armory, 1884):
Arms.----"Or, a chevron between three escallops azure."
Crest.----"On a chapeau gules, turned up ermine, a lion passant guardant
or, charged on the breast with an escallp azure."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the Historical Preface for "The
Descendants of Simon Gay", by Beth Gay, we find that the first mention
of the family "Gay" (Gear, Gayre, etc.) is in the records of the tax
collection of William the Conqueror in 1086.
In 1066, Duke William of Normandy conquered England
and was crowned King. Most of the lands
of the English nobility were soon granted to his followers. The Doomsday Book was compiled 20
years later. The Saxon Chronicle
records that in 1085 "at Gloucester at midwinter, the King had deep speech
with his counselors...and sent men all over England to each shire to find out
what or how much each landholder held in land and livestock, and what it was
worth." The returns to brought to
him before he left for England for the last time, late in 1086.
The lands of GEAR were held by Bricmer before 1066,
and paid tax for 1 furlong; 1 "V" or vergata of land (A quarter of a
hide, reckoned at 30 acres). There was
land for 2 ploughs and 3 slaves.
Pasture, 5 acres, woodland, 12 acres,
formerly valued at 25 shillings; now valued at 5 shillings.
The history books tell us that not too long after
this the family of GEAR was involved "in the destruction of a castle, and
had to FLEE to Scotland!"
It is interesting to note that the family in
Cornwall lived near and estuary of the sea.
Note that when the family next comes into historical notice it is near
the sea once again at Cromarty Bay and Nigg Firth in northern Scotland.
The arms are traceable to the 14th century. In process of time, this branch took over
the Chiefship of all branches of the House whether in Scotland, England or
Ireland.
In the later 16th & 17th centuries they were on
the Scottish Borders and intermarried with the Lairds of Mowe. A generation later, the representative of
Gayre appeared in Nigg as the incoming husband of the MacCullocghs of Nigg,
derived from Plaids and the possessors of the Girths of St. Duthace. Here they became a numerous clan and took
part in the affairs of Nigg, and Fortrose of the Black Isle.
Later with the passing of the estates into three
co-heiresses (whose husbands did not take the name of Gayre or Gair) the
chiefship passed to the line of the present chief of the Names's line.
The arms were matriculated as Gayre of Gayre and
Nigg in 1957 with a special compartment and recorded that the name was that of
an ancient house of the realm. The
Lairds of Gayre are also Barons of Lochore and hold the superiority of the
ancient castle of Lochore in Fife.
In 1992, with a letter from the Chief of the name,
Lt. Colonel Robert Gayre of Gayre and Nigg, the American Clan Gayre came into
being. Lt. Col. Gayre appointed Malley
Lee Gay of Jonesboro, Georgia as his first High Commissioner and Malley Lee
Gay, in turn, appointed Melvin Benjamin Gay of Moultrie, Georgia as his Deputy
High Commissioner.
The tartans of the clan may be worn by all of the
clan as members of the blood of the House of Gayre. In addition it may also be worn by those whose name may have a
similarity to Gayre (although not necessarily of the blood), such as Garrison,
Garson Etc., besides those derived from Gayres on their female lines of
descent.
The current Chief has declared that the home of the
Clan is at Minard Castle near Inverary, Scotland. The discovery of oil on the former clan lands made that location
undesireable as a place to live. At
Minard Castle there are records, a library, a small armoury and a family
portrait gallery.
Lt. Col. Robert Gayre, now in his 85th year, spent
many years recording information relevant to the Arms of Gayre. The Descendants of Simon Gay Family Reunion
and the Clan Gayre in North America have collected the most compleate
collection of his works on this continent.
They are located in the Ellen Payne Odom Genealogy Library, Moultrie,
Georgia. From "The Descendant
of Simon Gay" by Beth Gay, February 1993.
For questions or any other information I might help
you with, please contact me at the email below.
Copyright © 2005-2010 Nancy Gay
Crawford Updated: November 10, 2010