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Roy

{{other uses}}

{{Infobox given name

|pronunciation = {{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɔɪ}}

| name = Roy

| gender = Male

| meaning = King or Red

| region = Western Europe

| origin = Old Norman, Old French, Bengali, Scottish Gaelic

| related names = Fitzroy, Rex, Rey, Ray, Rai|alternative spelling=Roi|variant forms=Leroy, Leroi, Deroy}}

Roy or Roi is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origins.

France

File:House of Le Roy, Normandie.jpg.]]

In France, this family name originated from the Normans, the descendants of Norse Vikings who migrated to Amigny, a commune in Manche, Normandy.{{cite web|title= Généalogie de la noble et ancienne maison des Le Roy |author= Du Cluzel de Remaurin, Chevalier. |website= Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Philosophie, histoire, sciences de l'homme |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k56642609/f12.item |access-date=30 May 2023 |quote="Ecrit indifféremment dans quelques actes: Roi, Le Roi, De Roy et Le Roy." "D'origine normande, la noble maison des LE ROY 1, divisée en quatre principales bran-ches, dont nous donnons ici la généalogie, remonte à la plus haute antiquité, c'est-à-dire à ces fiers enfants du Nord (Nort-mans) qui, du fond de la Norwège 2, sous la conduite des Hadding, des Gerlon, des Héric et autres chefs non moins inhumains et farouches, inon-dèrent la Gaule au septième siècle, et ne laissèrent rien d'entier sur leur passage que les traces sanglantes de leur barbarie, la désolation et des' ruines, assiégèrent trois fois Paris et en effrayèrent si fort les habitants..." "GUILLAUME LE ROY, — alias DE ROY, — écuyér, chevalier du Temple..." "D'origine chevaleresque, la maison des LE ROY a donné à l'armée une longue série d'officiers distingués de tous grades, soit dans l'infanterie, la cavalerie, la maison du roi et rartillerie ; elle a eu deux chevaliers de l'ordre du Roi et plusieurs chevaliers de l'ordre royal et militaire de Saint-Louis, des chambellans, des sénéchaux, des gouverneurs, des magistrats intègres dans les baillages et les cours souveraines, et enfin des conseillers du roi et des trésoriers de ses épargnes..." "les LE ROY ont été maintenus dans leur noblesse, en outre de l'arrêt de la Cour des aides de Normandie de 1494, cité plus haut, par des sen-tences, des années 1546, 1637 et 1671 ; et après avoir fourni par devant d'Hozier, juge d'armes de France, les preuves irréfragables de leur noblesse..."| year=1863 }}{{cite book |author=Patrick Hankes|title=Dictionary of American Family Names |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003|volume=1|page=xcvii|isbn=0-19-508137-4 |quote=Roy: English (of Norman origin): from Old French roi ‘king’ used as a nickname (see 3 below) and also as a personal name." "French: from Old French rey roy ‘king’. Compare Deroy and Leroy." "Indian (Bengal) and Bangladeshi: variant of Rai." "Scottish: nickname for a person with red hair or a ruddy complexion from Gaelic ruadh ‘red.’" }}.{{cite web|title=Leroy|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofamer0000unse_r0m5/page/306/mode/2up?q=roy |work=Dictionary of American family names |access-date=22 May 2023 |quote=French: from Old French rey, roy ‘king’ (from Latin rex, genitive regis) (see Roy.), with the definite article le... King: The word was already used as a byname before the Norman Conquest, and the nickname was common in the Middle Ages...French LEROY.}}{{cite web|title= Armorial de la maison Le Roy |author= Du Cluzel de Remaurin, Chevalier. Lithographique de Jean Baptiste Joseph Constant, Graveur |website= Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Philosophie, histoire, sciences de l'homme |url= https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k56642609/f10.item.r=l# |access-date=15 July 2023 |quote=Le Roy Normandie.| year=1863 }} The derivation is from the Old French roy, roi ({{IPA|fr|ʁwa}}), meaning "king", which was a byname used before the Norman Conquest and a personal name in the Middle Ages.{{cite web|title= Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de France, des pairs, grands officiers de la couronne & de la maison du Roy, & des anciens barons du royaume|author= Anselme de Sainte-Marie |location= Compagnie des Libraires, Paris. |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=sNlEAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA249 |access-date=15 July 2023 |quote=Genealogie De La Maison De Le Roy...Guillaume le Roy III, du nom, seigneur de Chavigny, du Chillou...Femme, Françoise de Fontenays...1.René le Roi, seigneur de Chavigny, qui fuit...2.Guyon le Roy, seigneur du Chillou & de Mondon...| year=1733 }}

File:Blason Ordre du Temple.svg

Earliest references cite Guillaume de Roy (William of Roy), who was a knight of the Knights Templar and one of several knights and feudal lords (seigneur){{cite web|title=François Le Roy, chevalier de l'ordre du Roi|url=https://francearchives.gouv.fr/en/facomponent/ec39732cbf57c6c0cf71c63bbb3093bc516aa50a |work=France Archives (Portail National Des Archives) |access-date=14 July 2023 |quote=François Le Roy, chevalier de l'ordre du Roi, capitaine des Cent gentilshommes de sa maison, conseiller du Roi au conseil privé, comte de Clinchamp et de Chavigny et Antoinette de La Tour, dame de Vaurineux, sa femme : testament....}}{{cite web|title=Armorial du Saint-Esprit : Seigneur François Le Roy|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8470172t/f64.item |work=Bibliothèque nationale de France. Département des Manuscrits. |access-date=14 July 2023 |quote=Recueil de tous les chevaliers de l'ordre du Saint Esprit, depuis l'institution jusques en la presente année mil six cens trente un, avec les armoiries... le tout recueilly et mis en ordre par le Sr DE VALLES, de la ville de Chartres, en Beauce. A Paris.}}{{cite web|title=Domaine de La Grange-le-Roi (Grisy-Suisnes)|url=https://francearchives.gouv.fr/fr/findingaid/0e56b5b1ab244649bd991c2655f1c96df5020d97 |work=France Archives (Portail National Des Archives) - Archives départementales de Seine-et-Marne |date=2020 |access-date=4 February 2025 |quote=Les historiens et chercheurs sont revenus de la théorie du XIXe siècle attribuant la fondation du château de la Grange à François Ier. L'appellation « Le-Roy », ou plus tardivement « le-Roi », ne découle en effet d'aucune intervention du roi ou quelconque appartenance au domaine royal. Elle résulte plutôt de l'acquisition du domaine par Jacques Le Roy, mis en possession du château et de la seigneurie de la Grange les 8 et 21 octobre 1579. Le village de la Grange, composé d'habitants travaillant presque tous pour le château, est érigé en paroisse en 1580. Le 7 novembre 1581, Jacques de Camprémy, un des successeurs des Le Picart à Grisy, vend la terre et seigneurie éponyme à Jacques Le Roy. Ce dernier obtient du pouvoir royal la haute justice sur Grisy et ses dépendances, qui restent entre les mains des propriétaires du château de la Grange jusqu'à la Révolution française et l'abolition des privilèges."Jacques Le Roy est un personnage de premier plan dans l'entourage d'Henri IV. Conseiller du roi, il est aussi Grand Louvetier de France (1582-1601), trésorier de l'Épargne (1580-1588) et surintendant des Bâtiments à Fontainebleau. Il occupe également la charge de lieutenant du gouverneur de Melun en 1590 avant de devenir lui-même gouverneur de la place l'année suivante. En 1594, il achète au roi le comté de Melun. La famille Le Roy pourvoit ses membres de nombreux bénéfices ecclésiastiques dans les environs, comme au monastère d'Hermières en Brie, à l'abbaye des Bénédictins de Melun ou à l'abbaye de Quincy. Un des fils de Jacques Le Roy, François Le Roy, hérite de son titre de seigneur de la Grange-le-Roy en 1608.}}{{cite web|title=Congrès archéologique de France : séances générales tenues ... par la Société française pour la conservation des monuments historiques|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k3209987w/f156.item |work=Société française d'archéologie |date=1997 |access-date=23 August 2023 |quote=Du château fort au château neuf Modeste fief de Lerné, la terre de Chavigny, qui relevait du château de Loudun et qui est érigée en châtellenie en 1518, appartenait dès le XIV e siècle â la famille Le Roy. Le 19 juillet 1432, Guillaume Le Roy obtient l’autorisation de fortifier son manoir, qui présente bientôt « fossés, tour, pont-levis, barbacane, mâchicoulis et autres rempare-ments » (5). En 1543, François Le Roy (1519-1606), capitaine d'une compagnie d’archers qui combat en Piémont sous les ordres du maréchal de Brissac, modernise le château familial en bâtissant un corps de galeries (6).}} of the Roy family in France and Switzerland.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SAx-DwAAQBAJ&q=Guillaume+De+Roy&pg=RA1-PA52 |title=The Persecution of the Knights Templar: Scandal, Torture, Trial|author=Alain Demurger |year=2019| publisher=Simon and Schuster | isbn=978-1-64313-089-7 | access-date=12 July 2023 |quote=Seven of these nine Templars are also on the list of brothers who came from Gisors on 26 February 1310: Henri Zappellans or Chapelain, Anceau de Rocheria, Enard de Valdencia, Guillaume de Roy, Geoffroy de Cera or de La Fere-en-Champagne, Robert Harle or de Hermenonville, and Dreux de Chevru; the two others, Robert de Mortefontaine and Robert de Monts-de-Soissons, perhaps appear under different names. We don’t know the reasons why those nine Templars were not taken back to Gisors. They are catalogued as ‘non-reconciled’: that is, they had not been absolved and reconciled with the Church by a diocesan commission. They attended neither the Council of Sens nor that of Reims in May 1310. They were from different dioceses: Toul, Sens, Chalons-en-Champagne, Treves but also Soissons (Guillaume de Roy), Laon (Geoffroy de La Fere) and Senlis (Robert Harle).}}{{cite web|title= Bulletin de la Société académique de Laon |author= Société académique de Laon |website= Bibliothèque nationale de France |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k441211c/f150.item# |access-date=12 July 2023 |quote=Procès des Templiers" "Nicolas de Celles; Gauthier de Villesavoye; Etienne de Compiègne; Robert de Montreuil-aux-Lions, pètre; Guillaume de Roy; Geoffroy de Cère; Eloi de Pavant; Raoul et Pierre de Compiègne, Pierre d'Anizy défendront tous l'Ordre. | year=1864 }}{{cite web|title=Les Templiers |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DIzj9W9eebcC&q=Roy |work=Mémoires historiques sur les Templiers, ou Éclaircissemens nouveaux sur leur histoire, leur procès, les accusations intentées contr'eux, et les causes secrètes de leur ruine |author=De Philippe Antoine Grouvelle| year=1805| access-date=12 July 2023 |quote=Noms des Frères rassemblés le 28 mars 1310, devant les Commissaires charges par le Pape de l'Enquête sur les griefs imputés à l'Ordre du Temple en général... 184. Guillaume De Roy}}

File:Familles roy coatofarms.png

In Canada and in the United States, the descendants of the families of Roy, Le Roy that immigrated to North America have been granted a coat of arms by the Governor General of Canada.{{cite web|title= Association des familles Roy d'Amérique |url= https://www.gg.ca/en/heraldry/public-register/project/713 |work=Governor General of Canada. Register of Arms, Flags, and Badges of Canada. |access-date= 5 August 2023 |quote= Grant of Arms, September 14, 1997, Vol. III, p. 195. Arms of the Association des familles Roy d'Amérique Blazon Azure upon a base barry-wavy Argent and Azure a 17th century French ship Or sails and flags Argent in chief a man's and a woman's hands clasped Argent the whole between two ears of wheat totaling forty-two grains Or; Crest Blazon A compass rose Argent; Motto Blazon JOIE • FRATERNITÉ • RESPECT, meaning "Joy • Brotherhood • Respect"; Background Canada Gazette Information The announcement of the letters patent was made on November 22, 1997 in Volume 131, page 3591 of the Canada Gazette. |year=1997 }}{{cite web|title= Tristan Roy |url= https://www.gg.ca/en/heraldry/public-register/project/2443 |work=Governor General of Canada. Register of Arms, Flags, and Badges of Canada. |access-date= 12 August 2023 |quote= Mont Royal, Quebec Grant of Arms, with differences to Ariël Thériault-Roy and Lancelot Thériault-Roy August 15, 2013 Vol. VI, p. 254. The blue from the arms of the kings of France symbolizes Mr. Roy’s surname (“king” in English). The colour also appears on the flag of the Carignan-Salières Regiment, with which his ancestor, Antoine Roy, served upon arriving in New France in 1665. The ship and waves are taken from the arms of the Association des familles Roy d’Amérique. The compass rose is taken from the arms of the Association des familles Roy d’Amérique and symbolizes exploration and astronomy, two of Mr. Roy’s passions. The fleurs-de-lis, symbols of the kings of France, refer to his surname and French roots.|year=2013 }}{{cite web|title= Plaque de Nicolas Leroy et Jeanne Lelièvre. Vue avant |url= https://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=99532&type=bien|work= Gouvernement du Québec, Culture et Communications |access-date= 24 August 2023 |quote=Association des familles Roy d’Amérique... Texte de la plaque...Hommage à une famille pionnière...Nicolas Leroy et Jeanne Lelièvre arrivés en Nouvelle-France en 1661, de Dieppe, Normandie, établis en la seigneurie de La Durantaye en 1676, et dont plusieurs enfants ont vécu à Saint-Vallier...Dévoilement fait en l'an 2000, à la veille du 325e anniversaire de leur établissement sur la Rive sud.|year=2000 }}

England

File:Edward III of England (Order of the Garter).jpg, King of England. Bruges Garter Book.]]

After the Norman Conquest, the victorious Normans and their allies settled England and eventually formed the ruling class of nobles called Anglo-Normans.{{cite web|title=Anglo-Norman|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/anglo-norman |work=Collins English Dictionary |access-date=17 September 2024 |quote=Anglo-Norman in British English history adjective 1. relating to the Norman conquerors of England, their society, or their language noun 2. a Norman inhabitant of England after 1066 3. the Anglo-French language}} Roy, or Roi was a family name and also a title that was used by the kings of England & royal administration (such as Norroy and Viceroy).{{cite web|title=Les roys de Engeltere: An illustrated genealogy for King Edward I (Cotton MS Vitellius A XIII/1) |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:faf0b636-cae2-4c01-872c-a6b35de0f928/download_file?safe_filename=Dunning_2018_les_roys_de.pdf&type_of_work=Journal+article |work=Les roys de Engeltere |access-date=17 September 2024 |quote= The series of images of English kings from Edward the Confessor to Edward I in London, British Library, Cotton MS Vitellius A. XIII/1 is widely familiar from television, textbooks, websites, and exhibitions. In spite of this, the origins and context of this set of four leaves are mysterious. The limited attention given to them has focused on the images rather than the Anglo-Norman captions attached to them, which forms a genealogy of the kings, derived from earlier sources. "Sir Lowys fiz le Roy Phylippe de Fraunce en Engletere. Le Roy Jon regna .xvii. aunz e demy..." "Sir Louis, the son of Philip king of France, came into England.... King John reigned for seventeen and a half years..." | year=1272–1307 }}{{cite web|title=Norroy|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/norroy |work=Collins English Dictionary |access-date=2 July 2023 |quote=Word origin C15: Old French nor north + roy king}}{{cite web|title=The general armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales; comprising a registry of armorial bearings from the earliest to the present time |author= Burke, Bernard, Sir |website= London : Harrison & sons (Internet Archive) |url=https://archive.org/details/generalarmoryofe00burk/page/n34/mode/1up?q=Roy |access-date=2 July 2023 |quote="Norroy King of Arms", the most ancient of the heraldic sovereigns in England possesses as his province, England north of the Trent. He is the North King — "Norroy." The English Heralds bear the designation of "Windsor", "Chester", "Somerset", "Lancaster", "York" and "Richmond" the Pursuivants, are known by the names of "Rouge Dragon", "Rouge Croix", "Bluemantle" and "Portcullis." The date of the creation of the historic and dignified office of Garter King of Arms may be fixed with certainty to have been between May and September, 1417. The first Garter was William Bruges, originally styled "Guyenne King of Arms" and subsequently "Garteir Roy d'Armes des Anglois." By the constitution of King Henry VIII., it was provided that Garter should be Sovereign within the College of Arms above all the other officers... | year=1884 }} This is seen with patronymic surnames like Fitzroy, from Fi(t)z, meaning "son of" and Roy, "king", denoting the name bearer as a "son of the king".{{cite web|title=Fitzroy|url=https://www.ancestry.com/name-origin?surname=fitzroy#:~:text=Irish%3A%20Anglo%2DNorman%20French%20patronymic,is%20also%20a%20possible%20interpretation. |work=Dictionary of American family names |access-date=30 May 2023 |quote=Irish: Anglo-Norman French patronymic from fi(t)z ‘son’ (see Fitz) + Roy ‘king son of the king’. It is usually taken to imply that the original bearer was a bastard son of the king...}}{{cite web |title=Stowe MS 594 |url=https://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Stowe_MS_594 |work=William Bruges’ Garter Book |access-date=28 May 2023 |quote=Languages: Anglo-Norman |last1=Bruges |first1=William |year=1430–1440 |archive-date=9 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109222010/http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Stowe_MS_594 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web | title=Roy Edward (Edward III) manuscript | url=https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=5334 | work=William Bruges’ Garter Book | access-date=28 May 2023 | quote=Edward III and Henry, Duke of Lancaster, of the Order of the Garter. | last1=Bruges | first1=William | year=1430–1440 | archive-date=28 May 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230528154233/https://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/ILLUMIN.ASP?Size=mid&IllID=5334 | url-status=dead }}

Le Roy le veult ("The King wills it"), is a Norman French phrase still used in the Parliament of the United Kingdom to this day as royal assent. A legacy of a time prior to 1488 when parliamentary and judicial proceedings were conducted in Norman.{{cite web|title=Le roy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l05HAQAAMAAJ&q=le+roy+le+veult&pg=PA267 |work=Origins of the English People and the English Languages |access-date=23 May 2023 |quote=...the kings of England have retained the custom of using the Old Norman language when they give the royal assent... as: Le roy le veult; | last1=Roemer | first1=Jean | year=1888 }}{{cite web|title=House of Commons Procedure and Practice Second Edition, 2009 |url= https://www.ourcommons.ca/procedure-book-livre/en/document?sbdid=da2ac62f-bb39-4e5f-9f7d-90ba3496d0a6&sbpid=78b3c2eb-0124-40ae-87f7-687dfe010823 |location= House of Commons Canada |access-date=30 May 2023 |quote= He did so using the formulas le roy le veult to signify assent and le roy s’avisera to withhold it. Until the latter part of the reign of Edward III (1327‑77), all parliamentary proceedings were conducted in Norman French. The use of English was extremely rare until the reign of Henry IV (1399‑1413). Beginning with the reign of Henry VII (1485‑1509), English was used for all proceedings, with the exception of the Royal Assent, which was always expressed in French | year=2009 }}

India

In India, Roy is an anglicized variant of the surname Rai, likewise meaning "king". Rai (title) is a historical title of royalty and nobility in the Indian subcontinent used by rulers and chieftains of many princely states.

Scotland

The name Roy is also found in Scotland, an anglicisation from the Scottish Gaelic nickname ruadh, meaning "red".

Given name

Surname

Fictional characters

{{incomplete list|date=January 2023}}

See also

References

{{reflist}}

{{given name|type=both}}

Category:Surnames of Norman origin

Category:English-language surnames

Category:French-language surnames

Category:Given names derived from colors

Category:Scottish masculine given names

Category:English masculine given names

Category:French masculine given names

Category:Masculine given names

Category:Surnames of Indian origin

Category:Bengali Hindu surnames