Geneanet > Resources > Family Names > SAY

Origin and popularity of the name SAY

Origin

Say : 1: English: of Norman origin a habitational name from Sai in Orne or Say in Indre France perhaps so called from a Gaulish personal name Saius + the Latin locative suffix -acum (see also French name 3 below).2: English: nickname perhaps for someone who made or sold say a type of woollen cloth or for an habitual wearer of clothes made of this material from Middle English sai(e) ‘say’ (Old French saie from Latin saga plural of sagum ‘military cloak’). See also Sayer.3: French (southern): topographic name from saix (from Latin saxum) ‘rock’ or a habitational name from a place called with this word for example Say in Loire Saix in Tarn and Vienne Le Saix in Hautes-Alpes or Les Saix in Isère.4: Burmese (Karen): from a personal name usually forming part of a compound name from say ‘silver’. — Note: Since Karens do not have hereditary surnames this name was registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.5: Cambodian: written សាយ corresponding to the Khmer word of various possible meanings including ‘(to be) prolific’.6: Turkish: ornamental name nickname or topographic name from mostly regional say meaning e.g. ‘flat very thin stone’ and ‘companion’.7: Amerindian (Guatemala): Mayan name from a term denoting a kind of small fish.

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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 43,179 individuals with the name SAY on Geneanet.

 

Most found places for the name SAY:

    This last name in the family trees

    See below the Geneanet members' family trees which contain the last name SAY

    mmshaw2003
    (316 individuals)
    mmshaw
    (301 individuals)
    dhunebourg37
    (240 individuals)
    wbuchanan
    (223 individuals)

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