My father, born on November 19, 1928, was named Kay Albert Bredleau. I'm posting about him as a famous bearer of the name Kay, as he was *quite* well-known in his Oregon community for his singing and acting abilities, as well as my own opinion that he could've/should've/would've been famous had the "right" person ever heard his beautiful singing voice. :)The story I heard was that my grandmother's (Nana's) older sister had been dating a boy in Wisconsin by the name of Kay, and she had grown fond of him and his name, so she gave it to her 2nd-born son. As a child I never heard of any other boys/men named Kay, but that didn't cause me to think of it as only a girl's name. In fact, one of my best friends was named Kay, but nevertheless... The fact is, growing up, my father was very enamored of the fictional Dale Arden (Flash Gordon's girlfriend in the pre-movie serials shown in movie houses at the time), and named me, his 1st daughter, Dale after her. So... there ya go. A name is all in the ear of the behearer (huh?).From my understanding, it was never a problem when he was a child. But, I guess he must have had enough experiences later, wherein his gender was mistaken when his name was seen on a list, (just as I did with my name), that it bothered him somewhat, because he at some point began to always sign his name "K.A. Bredleau". Had I had another son, his third name would have been Kay (we assigned our children each three given names.) I will always think of it as my Daddy's name, and therefore masculine, but with my own name being Dale, I certainly don't see a problem with it being feminine as well. As this website shows, Kay (2) & (3) are both considered masculine, with unknown meaning, but used in Welsh mythology and Arthurian romance (Sir Kay of the Round Table.)Sure, there will always be some bully type who will use & pervert *any* name for shame, as cymrulady posted on 8/16/2006 & anonymous posted on 6/6/2012, but I like the name Kay for boy or girl, & would have no problem naming a child that, although again, it would probably be a middle name. That isn't because I don't like it as a first name, but only personal preference which dictated that each of our children have 3 given names: 1st name with 3 syllables, 2nd name 2 syllables, 3rd name 1 syllable. Don't know why it turned out that way, but it just did.
The story I heard was that my grandmother's (Nana's) older sister had been dating a boy in Wisconsin by the name of Kay, and she had grown fond of him and his name, so she gave it to her 2nd-born son. As a child I never heard of any other boys/men named Kay, but that didn't cause me to think of it as only a girl's name. In fact, one of my best friends was named Kay, but nevertheless... The fact is, growing up, my father was very enamored of the fictional Dale Arden (Flash Gordon's girlfriend in the pre-movie serials shown in movie houses at the time), and named me, his 1st daughter, Dale after her. So... there ya go. A name is all in the ear of the behearer (huh?).
From my understanding, it was never a problem when he was a child. But, I guess he must have had enough experiences later, wherein his gender was mistaken when his name was seen on a list, (just as I did with my name), that it bothered him somewhat, because he at some point began to always sign his name "K.A. Bredleau".
Had I had another son, his third name would have been Kay (we assigned our children each three given names.) I will always think of it as my Daddy's name, and therefore masculine, but with my own name being Dale, I certainly don't see a problem with it being feminine as well.
As this website shows, Kay (2) & (3) are both considered masculine, with unknown meaning, but used in Welsh mythology and Arthurian romance (Sir Kay of the Round Table.)
Sure, there will always be some bully type who will use & pervert *any* name for shame, as cymrulady posted on 8/16/2006 & anonymous posted on 6/6/2012, but I like the name Kay for boy or girl, & would have no problem naming a child that, although again, it would probably be a middle name. That isn't because I don't like it as a first name, but only personal preference which dictated that each of our children have 3 given names: 1st name with 3 syllables, 2nd name 2 syllables, 3rd name 1 syllable. Don't know why it turned out that way, but it just did.