Gages

Gages
This interesting and unusual name has two possible origins, both Norman (French), and introduced into Britain after the Conquest of 1066. Firstly, the modern surname "Gage", "Guage", "Gages" and "Gaiger" may be a metonymic occupational name for an assayer, someone employed as an official in charge of checking weights and measures, a measurer or tester. The derivation of this interpretation of the name is from the Old French and Middle English "gage, gauge", measure, a word thought to be ultimately of Germanic origin. Secondly, the modern surname can also be a metonymic occupational name for a moneylender or usurer, derived from the Old French and Middle English "gage", pledge, surety against which money was lent. The word is also of Germanic origin, but thought to be unrelated to the sense of "fixed measure". One Joseph Gage was sentenced to be transported to "Barbados or Jamaica" as a slave after his part in the ill-fated Monmouth Rebellion of 1685 and was shipped from Dorchester Gaol in December of that year. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alice Gage, which was dated 1310, in the "Court Rolls of the Borough of Colchester", Essex, during the reign of King Edward 11, known as "Edward of Caernafon", 1307 - 1327. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Surnames reference. 2013.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Gages — Gages …   Wikipédia en Français

  • gages — ● gages nom masculin pluriel Vieux. Rémunération des employés de maison, des ouvriers agricoles pour une période déterminée. ● gages (expressions) nom masculin pluriel Être aux gages de quelqu un, le servir aveuglément. Tueur à gages, homme de… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Gages — (spr. Gasch), Jean Bonaventure Dumont, Graf de G., geb. 1682 in Mons; begleitete [840] Philipp V. nach Spanien u. diente in der Wallonengarde, wurde 1740 Generallieutenant beim Feldzuge der Spanier in Italien, 1742 Oberbefehlshaber über. die… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Gages — (Gahsch), Jean Dumont, Graf von, geb. 1682 zu Mons, span. General, siegte 1742 über die Oesterreicher bei Campo Santo in der Lombardei, leitete 1743 den Feldzug mit Erfolg, sah aber 1744 seine Erfolge durch den Rückzug des Infanten Don Philipp… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Gages Lake — Lugar designado por el censo de los Estados Unidos …   Wikipedia Español

  • Gages Lake — Gages Lake, IL U.S. Census Designated Place in Illinois Population (2000): 10415 Housing Units (2000): 3829 Land area (2000): 3.086805 sq. miles (7.994789 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.219051 sq. miles (0.567340 sq. km) Total area (2000): 3.305856 …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Gages Lake, IL — U.S. Census Designated Place in Illinois Population (2000): 10415 Housing Units (2000): 3829 Land area (2000): 3.086805 sq. miles (7.994789 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.219051 sq. miles (0.567340 sq. km) Total area (2000): 3.305856 sq. miles… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Gages Lake, Illinois — Geobox City name = Gages Lake native name = other name = other name1 = category = Unincorporated image size = image caption = flag type = flag size = symbol type = symbol = symbol size = nickname = motto = country = United States state = Illinois …   Wikipedia

  • Gages (Aveyron) — Montrozier Montrozier Pays  Fr …   Wikipédia en Français

  • gages-morts — ● gage mort, gages morts nom masculin Gage qui ne produisait pas de fruits ou dont les fruits ne venaient pas en déduction du capital de la créance et profitaient au créancier. (Forme d usure, il fut proscrit par l Église au XIIe s.) ● gage mort …   Encyclopédie Universelle

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