Belgian Flag KAYE Ancestry
originating in modern-day Belgium and

Emigration to the United States and Canada




Henri Kaye visitng Belgium in 2013.

My father, Henri X. Kaye, was always interested in our family tree. I remember that he showed me his first sketches of our family tree when I was growing up in Florida in the late 1970's. By the time he retired in 1991, I had moved to live and work in Europe. After researching and trying out the available genealogy software, I bought him Family Tree Maker and we set about researching our family tree. It became our hobby and gave us many hours together searching the archives, listening to his stories about our family, and wondering about the gaps in the information we had. Dad lived to be 90 years old passing away in 2017. The picture was taken in Grez Doiceau (near Hamme-Mille) during his visit to Belgium in 2013. Lots of good memories remain.

Our family originates from Belgium, specifically in the town of Hamme-Mille in Brabant. We have expanded our family tree to include 1,905 names including 552 Kayes as far back as the early 1600`s. A substantial number of these have been verified using the microfilms at the State Archives in Belgium.






Most of the Kayes belong to one of four lines each originating in present-day Belgium. I have named each line after the city in which it originates.

  1. Hamme-Mille (248 Kayes) - Joannis Kaye born between 1690-1705 (I am descended from this line.)
  2. Hougarden (37 Kayes) - Jean Kaye born 1754
  3. Tohogne (93 Kayes) - Jacque Joseph Kaye born between 1750-1760
  4. Palenge (43 Kayes) - Francois Kaye born 1796

Today there are about 119 Kayes listed in the Belgian telephone directory. I compared the telephone numbers to the individuals in my family tree. The table below shows how many of the individuals come from each of the lines.

Hamme-Mille Line 9
Hougarden Line 4
Tohogne Line 21
Palenge Line 5
Total 39 (33% of 119)

The name Kaye appears in region of present-day Belgium as early as the 13th century. Since there are relatively few Kayes (119 according to the telephone records) living in Belgium today, I believe that it will be possible to relate all of the Kayes to a single ancestor.


Site Map

This site is organized into sections:

  1. Genealogy; Kaye Family Tree and related information.


  2. Original Documents; Copies of original documents such as Kaye Birth Certificates which I have scanned.
    Kaye Birth Certificates: 33
    Oldest Document: 1863 / 136 years old
    Total Number of Documents: 47

  3. Belgium in Pictures; During my trips to Belgium, I have started taking pictures of the towns which are mentioned in my family tree.


  4. Current Areas of Interest; Areas which I am currently researching for my family tree.


  5. Past Areas of Interest; Information that I have used and found helpful.
  6. Internet sites; An index of all links used in my site and other useful links that I have found.
  7. Geography; Places where Kayes are living outside of Belgium.

State Archives in Belgium

An excellent source of information for my research has been the State Archives in Belgium which makes records that are older than 100 years available to the public. Whereever possible, I have tried to base my research on original documents. Earlier the State Archives maintained several web pages in English. At the moment however, the site is only available in Dutch and French.

An excellent source for any information relating to the archives in Belgium is the website of Pascal Janssen. He has done a superb job of collecting information and keeping it up-to-date.



Last Updated: January 2021

[E-Mail]Please send your comments to: Michael Kaye

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