Paskins

Recorded as Paskin, Paskins, and Peskin, this unusual and interesting name is English. It is a diminutive of the surname Pask, an early Medieval name usually given to someone born at Easter. The name is an example of a group of English and European surnames that developed from the seasons or from particular days associated with the various religious holidays such as Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter. "Paske" is a development of the Old French word "pasque", itself from the Latin "pascua". In addition to being a name arising from a date of birth, the surname may also have been given to some nameholders as a result of another connection with that time of year. This could be a feudal obligation for payment of rent or tithes, whilst there is also the case of it being given as a personal name, as in the recording of Pasken de Stafford in the rolls of Staffordshire in 1399. Other recordings include those of Elizabeth Paskins who was married to Henry Wind at St. Margaret's, Westminster, on July 10th 1656, whilst Grace Peskin, the daughter of Stanhope and Sarah Peskin, was christened at Bramley Wesleyan church, Leeds, on June 23rd 1830. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ralph Pasken. This was dated circa 1402, in the chartulary of the priory of St. Thomas, the Martyr, Stafford. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.