The basics
Quick facts
The details
Biography
Introduction
Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin.In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman roy, meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, rey or roy (modern roi), likewise gave rise to Roy as a variant in the Francophone world.In India, Roy is a variant of the surname Rai, likewise meaning "king". It also arose independently in Scotland, an anglicisation from the Scottish Gaelic nickname ruadh, meaning "red".
Given name
- Roy Acuff (1903–1992), American musician
- Roy Andersen (born 1955), runner
- Roy Andersen (South Africa) (born 1948), South African businessman and military officer
- Roy Anderson (American football) (born 1980), American football coach
- Sir Roy M. Anderson (born 1947), British scientific adviser
- Roy Andersson (born 1943), Swedish film director
- Roy Andersson (footballer) (born 1949), footballer from Sweden
- Roy Chapman Andrews (1884–1960), American naturalist and explorer
- Roy Ascott (born 1934), British artist and theorist
- Roy Blount Jr. (born 1941), American writer, speaker, reporter and humorist
- Roy Blunt (born 1950), United States Senator and former congressman
- Roy Campanella (1921–1993), American Hall of Fame baseball catcher
- Roy Campanella II (born 1948), television director and producer, son of the above
- Roy Castle (1932–1994), English dancer, singer, musician, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician
- Roy Clark (1933–2018), American singer and musician
- Roy Christian, New Zealand rugby league footballer
- Roy Cohn (1927–1986), American lawyer best known as Senator Joseph McCarthy's counsel from 1953 to 1954
- Roy Cooper (born 1957), American politician and governor of North Carolina
- Roy de Silva, Sri Lankan Sinhala actor and director
- Roy E. Disney (1930–2009), American businessman
- Roy O. Disney (1893–1971), American businessman
- Roy Drusky (1930–2004), American country music singer
- Roy Face (born 1928), often referred to as "Elroy Face", American baseball relief pitcher
- Roy Firestone (born 1953), American sports talk show host
- Roy Foster (baseball) (1945–2008), American baseball player
- Roy Gagnon (1913–2000), American football player
- Roy J. Glauber (1925–2018), American physicist and 2005 Nobel prize winner
- Roy M. Goodman (1930–2014), New York state senator
- Roy Halladay (1977–2017), American baseball pitcher
- Roy Halliday (1923–2007), British vice-admiral
- Roy Halston Frowick (1932–1990), better known as Halston, clothing designer
- Roy Hamilton (1929–1969), American singer
- Roy Hamilton (basketball) (born 1957), American basketball player and sports television producer
- Roy Hargrove (1969–2018), American jazz trumpeter
- Roy Harper (disambiguation)
- Roy Harris (disambiguation)
- Roy Harrison (born 1939), Irish former cricketer
- Roy M. Harrison (born 1948), environmental chemist
- Roy Hartsfield (1925–2011), American Major League Baseball player and manager
- Roy Hattersley (born 1932), British politician, author and journalist
- Roy Head (born 1941), R&B and country music singer
- Roy Hibbert (born 1986), Jamaican-American retired basketball player
- Roy Hodgson (born 1947), English former football player and current manager
- Roy Horn (born Uwe Ludwig Horn in 1944), half of the Las Vegas show team Siegfried & Roy
- Roy Howell (born 1953), American former Major League baseball player
- Roy Lee Jackson (born 1954), American former Major League Baseball pitcher
- Roy Jenkins (1920–2003), Welsh politician and author
- Roy Johnson (pitcher), baseball pitcher, manager and longtime coach
- Roy Jones, Jr., professional boxer
- Roy Keane, Irish former football player and current manager
- Roy Khan, former singer of power metal band Kamelot
- Roy Kim, born Kim Sang-woo, South Korean singer-songwriter
- Roy Kinnear (1934–1988), English actor
- Roy Lechthaler, American football player
- Roy Lichtenstein, American pop artist
- Roy Makaay, Dutch football (soccer) player and current manager
- Roy Masters (commentator), American talk radio personality, podcaster and spiritual counselor
- Roy McMillan, American baseball player
- Roy Morris (c. 1930–2011), British Scout Leader, recipient of the Silver Wolf Award
- Roy Moore, American politician and former state judge
- Roy Nachum (born 1979), Israeli contemporary artist
- Roy Nelson (disambiguation), multiple people
- Roy Niederhoffer (born 1966), American hedge fund manager and philanthropist
- Roy Orbison (1936–1988), American singer-songwriter
- Roy Oxlade, English painter and writer on art
- Roy Pinney, herpetologist, professional photographer, writer, spelunker, pilot and war correspondent
- Roy Rogers (1911–1998), American singing movie cowboy
- Roy Rosselló, former member of Puerto Rican Boyband Menudo from 1983–1986.
- Roy Sanders (Louisiana politician), American educator and Louisiana state legislator
- Roy Scheider, film actor
- Roy Schwitters, American physicist
- Roy D. Shapiro, Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School
- Roy Shepherd, British ice hockey player
- Roy Shepherd (pianist), Australian pianist and teacher
- Roy Sievers, American baseball player
- Roy Smalley, Jr., American baseball player, father of Roy Smalley III
- Roy Smalley III, American baseball player, son of Roy Smalley, Jr.
- Roy Staiger, baseball player in the late 1970s
- Roy Thomas (pitcher) (born 1953), American baseball player
- Roy Underhill, host of the PBS series The Woodwright's Shop
- Roy Webb, gospel music pianist and speaker
- Roy White, American all-star baseball player
- Roy Williams (basketball coach), American college basketball coach
- Roy Williamson, Scottish folk singer
- Roy Wilkins, civil rights activist
Surname
- Anupam Roy, singer and music director
- Ajoy Roy (born 1935), Bangladeshi physicist and human rights activist
- Anuradha Roy, Indian Bengali novelist and journalist
- Aruna Roy (born 1946), Indian Tamil social activist
- Arundhati Roy (born 1961), Indian Keralite novelist and peace activist
- Avik Roy, American political commentator
- Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882-1962), Indian Bengali politician
- Bikash Roy (1916-1987), Indian Bengali actor
- Bimal Roy (1909-1966), Indian Bengali film director
- Brandon Roy (born 1984), American basketball player
- Bryan Roy (born 1970), Dutch football (soccer) player and current manager
- Bunker Roy (born 1945), Indian Bengali social activist
- Claude Roy (physician) (born 1928), Canadian physician
- Claude Roy (poet) (1915–1997), French poet and essayist
- Claude Roy (politician) (born 1952), Canadian politician
- Conrad Roy (1995-2014), American marine salvage captain whose suicide resulted in the manslaughter conviction of his girlfriend
- Debashree Roy (born 1961), Indian Bengali actress
- Deep Roy (born 1957), Kenyan-born Indian actor
- Derek Roy (born 1983), Canadian ice hockey player
- Derek Roy (comedian) (1922–1981), English comedian
- Dolon Roy (born 1970), Indian Bengali actress
- Drew Roy (born 1986), American actor
- Eric Roy (born 1948), New Zealand politician
- Éric Roy (born 1967), French footballer
- Fabien Roy (born 1928), Canadian politician
- Falguni Roy (1945-1981), Indian Bengali poet
- Gabrielle Roy (1909-1983), Canadian author
- Helen Roy (born 1969), British ecologist, entomologist and academic
- Indra Lal Roy (1898-1918), Indian Bengali First World War flying ace
- Jahor Roy (1919-1977), Indian Bengali actor and comedian
- James Roy (politician) (1893–1971), New Zealand politician
- James Roy (writer) (born 1968), Australian writer
- James A. Roy (born 1964), US Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
- Jason Roy (born 1990), English cricketer
- Jeffrey Roy (born 1961), American politician and lawyer
- Jean Sebastien Roy, Canadian motocross rider who enjoyed success in the 2000s
- Jean-Yves Roy (born 1949), Canadian politician
- Juthika Roy (1920-2014), Indian Bengali singer
- Kalidas Roy (1889–1975), Indian Bengali poet
- Kanu Roy (born 1981), Indian Bengali film actor, and music composer
- Leela Roy (1900-1970), Indian Bengali independence activist and social reformer
- Leo Roy (1904-1955), American/Canadian boxer
- M. N. Roy (1887-1954), Indian Bengali philosopher and revolutionary
- Mathieu Roy (born 1983), Canadian ice hockey player
- Mathieu Roy (ice hockey) (born 1986), Canadian ice hockey player
- Nirupa Roy (1931-2004), Indian Gujarati actress
- Patrick Roy (born 1965), Canadian ice hockey head coach and former goaltender
- Prannoy Roy (born 1949), Indian Bengali journalist and media personality
- Prasanna Kumar Roy (1849–1932), Indian Bengali educationist
- Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833), Indian Bengali religious, social and educational reformer
- Rahul Roy (born 1966), Indian film actor
- Sarat Chandra Roy (1871–1942), Indian Bengali anthropologist
- Satabdi Roy (born 1968), Indian Bengali actress
- Shasanka Mohan Roy (born 1941), Indian quantum physicist
- Shehzad Roy, Pakistani pop singer and social worker
- Subrata Roy (born 1948), Indian Bengali businessman
- Subimal Chandra Roy (1912-1971), Indian Bengali jurist
- Subodh Roy (1916–2006), Indian Bengali independence activist
- Sylvie Roy (1964-2016), Canadian politician
- Tarapada Roy (1936-2007), Indian Bengali author
- William Roy (1726–1790), Scottish surveyor
Fictional characters
- Esme & Roy's eponymous monster
- Roy, protagonist of the video game Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade and a character in Super Smash Bros. series
- Roy (Little Britain), from the British sketch show Little Britain
- Roy (Peanuts), a minor character from the Peanuts comic strip
- Roy Anderson (The Office), from The Office U.S. TV series
- Roy Batty, the leader of the renegade replicants in the film Blade Runner
- Roy Carson, from the American movie Final Destination 5
- Roy Cropper, from the British soap opera Coronation Street
- Roy Earle, from the game L.A. Noire
- Roy Greenhilt, from the webcomic Order of the Stick
- Roy Harper (comics), a superhero in the DC Comics universe
- Roy Hobbs, protagonist of the Bernard Malamud novel The Natural and the film adaptation
- Roy Koopa, one of the Koopalings from Super Mario Bros. 3
- Roy Miller, protagonist from the film Knight and Day
- Roy Mustang, from the Fullmetal Alchemist manga series
- Roy Neary, protagonist from the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Roy O'Brien, eponymous animated protagonist of the TV series Roy
- Roy Race, from the comic strip Roy of the Rovers
- Roy Rooster, in the comic strip US Acres
- Roy Trenneman, from the British sitcom The IT Crowd