Find out how popular the last name Kelsay is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Kelsay.

Kelsay, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Kelsay surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Kelsay in America

Kelsay is the 22183rd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Kelsay surname appeared 1,164 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Kelsay.

We can also compare 2010 data for Kelsay to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Kelsay

The surname Kelsay is of Scottish origin and derives from the old Scottish Gaelic word "Ceall sa" which means "church house" or "church dwelling." It is believed to have originated in the region of Ayrshire, Scotland in the late 12th century.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Kelsay appears in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, where it is listed as "Kelsay de Kilwinning." This suggests that the name was established and associated with the village of Kilwinning in Ayrshire by the late 13th century.

Historical records also indicate that a John Kelsay was a landowner in the parish of Kilwinning in 1512. Another notable early bearer of the name was Robert Kelsay, who was a merchant in the city of Glasgow in the late 16th century, born around 1570.

The Kelsay name was also present in the nearby county of Renfrewshire, as evidenced by the birth of James Kelsay in the town of Paisley in 1642. He later became a successful merchant and landowner in the region.

During the 17th century, the spelling of the name evolved to include variations such as Kelsey and Kelso, which may have been influenced by the nearby town of Kelso in the Scottish Borders region.

One prominent individual with the Kelsay surname was Sir William Kelsay, who was born in Edinburgh in 1685 and served as a judge in the Court of Session, the highest civil court in Scotland at the time.

Another notable figure was John Kelsay, born in Ayr in 1742, who was a respected scholar and professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow in the late 18th century.

By the 19th century, the Kelsay name had spread beyond Scotland, with individuals bearing the surname found in various parts of the British Isles and beyond, as families emigrated in search of new opportunities.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Kelsay

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Kelsay.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Kelsay was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Kelsay has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Kelsay was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Kelsay, please contact us.

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