The Roy name

Over 27 different persons with the surname Roy migrated to New France. The surname Roy was common in France and may have many origins. In the middle ages, the word roi meant rule or master. Roi was adopted as a patronym by persons who were masters or the best at a given trade. It could also refer to someone who had won at a game. In Brittany, the first person of a group to complete a pilgrimage to St-Jacques-de-Compostelle would add the name Leroi to his first name. Finally, the Roy name was also adopted by persons who administered the property of the king or a lord.
The name's spelling has varied over the years. Anthyme's father, François, is usually referred to as Roi in registers. Their first ancestor to come to Canada was known as Nicolas Leroy.
To complicate matters, french canadians often had a second surname especially if their ancestor had been a soldier. They often used one name for some matters and the second surname for others. Their children could adopt both or either surname. As time went by, descendants of Nicolas Leroy came to refer to themselves as Roy dit Leroy to differentiate themselves from descendants of other Roy such as the Roy dit Desjardins or the Roy dit Lauzier. In the beginning of the 20th century, families stopped using the second surname and family surnames were standardized. The Roi, Leroi, and Leroy names are now spelled Roy.
The Roy family association regroups all of the descendants of the 27 Roy who came to North America. Their website ca be found at:http://www.genealogie.org/famille/roy/english.htm