Jay (given name)
Jay is a male given name. 'Jaya' is a female variation or female given name with same meaning and origin from Sanskrit.
It has multiple origins and meanings, commonly associated with intelligence, cheerfulness, and victory. The name is often used as a shortened form of longer names.
Jai and Jay are pronounced differently. Jay is pronounced as in similar to Jaybird and Jai is pronounced as 'J-ae-h'.
The spelling 'Jai' is common in South Asia.
In English, Jay is derived from the name of the jaybird, a colorful and intelligent bird known for its lively nature. The name became popular in English-speaking countries during the 19th and 20th centuries, often symbolizing quick thinking, playfulness, and individuality. It may also have roots in Old French from the name Gai, meaning "joyful" or "cheerful".
In Sanskrit, Jay or Jai means "victory" or "triumph" and is commonly used in Indian culture. It is often associated with success, strength, and overcoming challenges. The name has historical significance in Hinduism and Indian traditions, where it appears in religious texts and is used in names such as Jayendra and Jayant.
Sports
- Jay Adams, American skateboarder
- Jay Ajayi, English-American NFL football player
- Jay Barnett, Australian association football player
- Jay Beagle, Canadian ice hockey player
- Jay Berger, American tennis player
- Jay Bothroyd, English football player
- Jay Bouwmeester, Canadian hockey player
- Jay Briscoe, American professional wrestler
- Jay Bruce, Major League Baseball player, three-time All-Star
- Jay Cutler, American football player
- Jay Cutler (bodybuilder), American bodybuilder
- Jay Dahlgren, Canadian javelin thrower
- Jay DeMerit, American soccer player
- Jay Devilliers, French professional pickleball player
- Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, English footballer
- Jay Faatz, American baseball player
- Jay Fiedler, American NFL football quarterback
- Jay Haas, American golfer
- Jay Higgins, American football player
- Jay Horwitz, American executive for the New York Mets
- Jay Idzes, Dutch-indonesia footballer
- Jay Jones, American football player
- Jay Lethal, American professional wrestler
- Jay McDonagh, American football player
- Jay McKee, Canadian ice hockey player
- Jay Monahan, PGA Tour commissioner
- Jay Moriarity, American big wave surfer
- Jay Novacek, American football player
- Jay-Jay Okocha, Nigerian footballer
- Jay O'Shea, Irish footballer
- Jay Person, American football player
- Jay Scrubb, American basketball player
- Jay Sigel, American golfer
- Jay Toia, American football player
- Jay Tufele, American football player
- Jay Wheeldon, English footballer
Music
- Jay Aston, English singer
- Jay Azzolina, American guitarist
- Jay Bennett, American musician
- Jay Bentley, American musician
- Jay Chou, Taiwanese musician
- Jay Cloidt, American composer and audio engineer
- Jay Dee Daugherty, American drummer
- Jay Ferguson (American musician)
- Jay Ferguson (Canadian musician)
- Jay Fung, Hong Kong-Canadian singer-songwriter
- Jay Greenberg (composer), American composer
- James "Jay" Huguely, American actor, recording artist known as Cledus Maggard & the Citizen's Band
- Jay Kay, British musician and frontman of British band Jamiroquai
- Jay Lane, American musician
- Jay Livingston, American composer
- Jay Osmond, American musician
- Jay Park, Korean American b-boy and singer
- Jay Park, Korean American singer, member of the group ENHYPEN
- Jay Reatard, American musician
- Jay Sean, British musician
- Jay Traynor, American singer, member of the group Jay and the Americans
- Jay Weinberg, American drummer
- Jay Wilbur, British bandleader
- Jay Alan Yim, American composer
- Jay Yuenger, American guitarist
- Jay Zeffin, English musician, composer
- Jay Ziskrout, American drummer
Television and film
- Jay Abdo, Syrian actor
- Jay Baruchel, Canadian actor
- Jay Bhanushali, Indian actor
- Jay Brazeau, Canadian actor
- Jay Chandrasekhar, American director
- Jay Faerber, American comic and television writer
- Jay R. Ferguson, American actor
- Jay Gallentine, American filmmaker and historian
- Jay Harrington, American actor
- Jay Hayden, American actor
- Jay Hernandez, American actor
- Jay Howell (illustrator), American illustrator, animator, cartoonist, and artist
- Jay Ilagan, Filipino actor
- Jay Karnes, American actor
- Jay Laga'aia, New Zealand actor
- Jay Leno, American comedian and talk-show host
- Jay McCarroll, American fashion designer
- Jay Mohr, American actor
- Jay North, American actor
- Jay Odjick, Algonquin artist, writer, and television producer
- Jay Purvis, Canadian carpenter and television presenter
- Jay Roach, American director
- Jay Ryan (actor), New Zealand actor
- Jay Silverheels, Canadian actor
- Jay Thomas, American actor and talk-show host
- Jay Underwood, American actor and pastor
- Jay Wolpert, American television producer and screenwriter
Politics
- Jay C. Block, American politician
- Jay DeBoyer, American politician
- Jay Hammond, American politician and state governor
- Jay Inslee, American politician
- Jay Jalisi, American politician
- Jay Nixon, American politician
- Jay Obernolte, American politician, businessman, and video game developer
- Jay Rockefeller, American politician
- Jay P. Rolison Jr., New York politician
- Jay H. Upton, American politician and attorney
- Jay Weatherill, Australian politician
- Jay Wolfe, American businessman and politician
Other professions
- Jay Adair, American businessman, CEO of Copart
- Jay Armes, American amputee, actor, and private investigator
- Jay Bhattacharya, American-Indian professor
- Jay Boersma, American fine art and documentary photographer
- Jay Bybee, American judge
- Jay Chaudhry, American billionaire, CEO and founder of Zscaler
- Jay Chevalier, American singer and songwriter
- Jay Chiat, American advertising designer
- Jay Cooke, American financier
- Jay Fox, American journalist, trade unionist, and political activist
- Jay Garner, American retired US Army lieutenant general and business executive
- Jay Gillenwater, American professor
- Jay Gould, American financier
- Jay Greenberg (psychoanalyst), American psychoanalyst and psychologist
- Jay Gunter, American pathologist and amateur astronomer
- Jay Jasanoff, American linguist
- Jay Kordich, American author and juice fasting advocate
- Jay McCallum, justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court
- Jay McInerney, American writer
- Jay Miner, American computer pioneer
- Jay Nordlinger, American journalist
- Jay Ohrberg, American car collector and customizer
- Jay Penske, American media entrepreneur
- Jay Pritzker, American businessman
- Jay Raymond, American general
- Jay Rosen, American writer
- Jay Sekulow, American lawyer
- Jay Severin, American radio talk show host
- Jay Ulfelder, American political scientist
- Jay Walljasper, American writer, editor, speaker, and community consultant
- Jay Wynne, American weather forecaster
- Jay Xu Chinese-born American museum director, art historian, curator
- Jay Zeamer Jr., American aeronautical engineer, pilot, and WWII veteran
Fictional characters
- Jay, a character in the 2005 American romantic comedy movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin
- Jay Cartwright, in the television series The Inbetweeners
- Jay Garrick, in the DC Comics universe
- Jay Gatsby, in the 1925 novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Jay Guthrie (Icarus), a mutant character in Marvel Comics
- Jay Halstead, in the television series Chicago P.D.
- Jay Hogart, in the television series Degrassi: The Next Generation
- Jay Kelso, a character in That 90's Show
- Jay Kyle, in the TV series My Wife and Kids
- Jay Landsman, in the television series The Wire
- Jay Nakamura, Superman 's boyfriend in DC Comics
- Jay Sherman, in the animated series The Critic
- Jay Pritchett, a character in Modern Family
- Jay Walker (Ninjago), a character in Ninjago
- Jay, in the films of Kevin Smith
- Jay, in the television series The Tribe
- Jay, one of The Blues in Angry Birds
- Jay, "The Leader" in the animated series Clash of the Titans
- Jay, in the web series Marble Hornets
- Jay, in the animated series The Ridonculous Race
- Jay, in the animated series Big Mouth
- Jay, in the horror comic series Witch Creek Road
- Jay, a villager in the Nintendo video game Animal Crossing
- Jay, one of the three main superheroes in Kiya and the Kimoja Heroes
- Jay, a character who is Finn Mertens' son in pillow world in the TV series Adventure Time
- Jay, one of the playable characters in Puyo Puyo Tetris
- Jay, a character who is Chad's little brother in ''Out There''
Lists of people with the name
- Jay Baker (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Bell (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Bergman (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Bernard (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Chapman (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Clark (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Clarke (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Clayton (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay David (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Edwards (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Ferguson (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Foreman (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Frank (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Gould (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Greenberg (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Harris (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Hart (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Henderson (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Hickman (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Hill (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Hoffman (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Hughes (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Hunt (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Jackson (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Jacobs (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Johnson (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Johnston (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Jones (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Katz (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Kim (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Lawrence (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Leach (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Lee (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Lewis (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Lynch (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Marshall (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Martin (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Miller (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Mitchell (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay O'Brien (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Powell (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Rabinowitz (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Reynolds (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Robbins (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Robinson (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Rosenblatt (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Ryan (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Scott (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Smith (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Taylor (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Turner (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Walker (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Wallace (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Ward (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay White (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Williams (disambiguation), multiple people
- Jay Wright (disambiguation), multiple people