Ramsay

Ramsay is a surname of Scottish origin, derived from the place Ramsay in East Lothian, and has spread to various English-speaking countries. The name is also used as a given name, and appears in the names of several places and fictional characters. The spelling is sometimes anglicized as Ramsey; both forms are common.

Notable people with the surname include Allan Ramsay (1686–1758), a Scottish poet and publisher; Sir William Ramsay (1852–1919), a Scottish chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for the discovery of noble gases; and Gordon Ramsay (born 1966), a British chef and television personality. Ramsay MacDonald (1866–1937) is a notable example of the given-name form, as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Geographic usage includes settlements or neighborhoods such as Ramsay, Calgary, a historically oriented neighborhood in Alberta, Canada. There are other places named Ramsay in Canada and the United States, reflecting the toponymic origin of the name.

In culture, Ramsay is used as a given name or surname for fictional characters, including Ramsay Bolton, a character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series and the Game of Thrones TV adaptation.

Clan Ramsay is a Scottish clan associated with the surname, historically located in the Scottish Borders and Lothians, with its own crest and tartan.