Meaning & Origin
A surname.
Hays is a boy's and girl's baby name of Old English origin, transferred from a surname meaning 'from the hedged enclosure' — derived from the Old English hæs (brushwood, hedgerow). As a given name it carries the clean, confident energy of place-name and surname-style names.
Hays fits comfortably alongside Hayes, Brooks, and Wells in the tradition of single-syllable surname names that feel both rugged and refined. The city of Hays, Kansas, and the surname's use among various American historical figures give it a distinctly frontier American character — straightforward, strong, and unpretentious.