Jay

Jay has two distinct origins that converged on the same form. In English it arose as a short form of names beginning with the letter J, particularly James and John, and has been used as an independent given name since the 19th century; it also overlaps with the name of the jay bird, derived ultimately from the Latin Gaius. In Sanskrit-derived languages such as Hindi, Marathi, and Gujarati, Jay comes from the Sanskrit jaya meaning victory, making it a name with deep roots in Hindu tradition and closely related to the names Vijay and Jaya.