Croy
A surname of likely French locational origin, usually linked to places named Croy or Crey in France, though some older writers tied it to Norman nobility.
The #8,246 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 76,841 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Croy is usually treated as a locational surname, from a place-name in France. Nineteenth-century writers most often connected it with Croy in Picardy, though some also linked it to other French place-names and to Norman families said to have taken the name from landed holdings. The core idea is simply "from Croy" or "of Croy," rather than a descriptive meaning in English.
History
Old genealogical and heraldic works associate the name with Norman and Anglo-Norman families, including forms such as de Croy and de Grey in medieval records. However, those same writers are not always consistent, and some etymologies are clearly speculative. In later English usage, Croy survives as a relatively uncommon surname in the United States and elsewhere.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname books sometimes tried to connect Croy with the noble house of De Croy, but even they admitted the pedigree evidence was shaky.
From the historical record
“ancient and noble family from Fulbert, chamljerlain to Eobert, duke of Normandy, who held by his gift the castle of Croy, in Picardy, from Avhence the name is assumed to have been borro\ved. There is liowtA^er no evidence for this ; for the pedigree is only traced to Henry de Grey, to whom Eichard Ceeur-de-Lion…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom