Talk:King (surname)

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England Low‑importance

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Scotland Low‑importance

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Origin

There's no way this is an occupational surname. I've removed the category. In the West, at least, most people descended from kings wouldn't even have surnames, and quasi-surnames for monarchs are more often the name of the dynasty (e.g., Elizabeth Windsor, Mary Stuart). So where did it come from? The French usage explains some of it, but surely not all instances. --BDD (talk) 21:28, 4 March 2016 (UTC)[reply]

If the Filles de Roi were named Roi or Roy, the surname would not be given to their children. Gypsydoctor (talk) 03:14, 16 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

-- It is thought to be derived from the "Mystery Plays" which were extremely common in England during the middle ages, in which villagers would stage a yearly play involving religious stories and noteworthy events from the preceding year. A particular person would often play the same character (e.g. the king) year after year, and thus surnames (originally nicknames) such as King, Pope and Lord were given to these individuals. Please see the article on surnames for more details. 84.69.25.21 (talk) 20:41, 27 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]