Clays Family History

From The Clays in Spurstow (Cheshire) recorded from the 14th century. The place-name derives from a plural form of Old English clǣg ‘clay clayey soil’ and evidently alluded to an area of clayey places. This is a variant of Clay with Middle English plural -s or post-medieval excrescent -s. Compare Stephen Clay 1334-5 in Subsidy Rolls (Faversham Kent) with the 1381 example of Cleys in Canterbury (8 miles away). Some early bearers might otherwise belong at (3).

From the Middle Dutch personal name Klaas Claes a pet form of Niklaas (see Nicholas). It is not known how many of the Dutch immigrants who swore oaths of loyalty to the king or who were taxed by him settled permanently in 15th-century England. Compare Clayson.

From Clies in Mawgan in Meneage (Cornwall), the place-name derives from Cornish *cleys ‘trench groove’.