Casse

This surname recorded as Cass, Casse, Cassie, Cassey, Cassy and In Dublin (Ireland) as Cash, can be English, Irish, Scottish or as Ducasse, Casse, and Le Casse, French. From the British Isles it generally derives from the medieval personal names Cass or Cassie being nickname forms of the popular Greek female name "Cassandra", meaning "snarer of men! This was introduced into Europe at the time of the famous crusades of the 12th century, the first Cassandra being a Trojan prophetess, who was condemned to foretell the future, but never to be believed. For whatever reason, this story was widely popular in medieval times. The name is a metronymic, which is so say that it derives from the mother's name, rather than the father's. In France the name is usually associated with a place called Casse in Sud-Ouest, the meaning probably being a chine or cleft in the cliffs. Recordings include Elyzabeth Casye, who married William Kendricke at St Dionis Backchurch, London, on August 27th 1564, John Cass of Dalkeith, Scotland in 1566, and Marie Casse of St Germain en Laye, France, on May 13th 1715. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Cass, which was dated 1130, in the Registrum de Dunfermelyn, during the reign of King David 1st of Scotland", 1124 - 1153. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.