Gegay

This interesting and unusual surname, recorded in English church registers under the variant spellings Gogie, Gogay, Goggey, Gegay, Geggie etc., and in Scotland as Gogy and Gugy, is a diminutive from the Old French "gogue", enjoyment, relaxation, and was originally given as a nickname to one of easy-going temperament. The surname was first recorded in Scotland in the early part of the 14th Century, (see below). One John Gugy, noted in "The Register of Sancto Marie de Neubotle", was abbot of that abbey between 1402 and 1409. On August 7th 1614, Daniel, son of Pierre Gogie and Anne Tiberghien, was christened in the French Huguenot Church, Threadneedle Street, London, indicating that, in some instances, namebearers are of Huguenot extraction. On March 16th 1747, James Gagie, an infant, was christened in Embleton, Northumberland, and on May 15th 1808, the christening of one, David Gagie took place in Carham, Northumberland. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Gogy, provost of Inverkethyn, which was dated 1330, in the "Exchequer Rolls of Scotland", during the reign of King David 11 of Scotland, 1329 - 1371. 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.