Hassey

Recorded in a number of spellings including Hasy, Hasey, Hassye and Hassey, this is believed to be an English surname and either a nickname or possibly locational. It is one of those surnames for whom there are a number of recordings dating back to at least Elizabethan times, and therefore by any standards it is a native of England, but its origins are more obscure. The first of the surviving church recordings is in the spelling of 'Hasy' when Mary Hasy the daughter of John Hasy, was christened at the church of St Gregory and St Paul in the city of London. This was on September 24th 1564, in the sixth year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st (1558 - 1603), whilst Elizabeth Hassye married William Towes at the church of St Nicholas Acorns, also in the city of London, on October 19th 1579. The origin is believed to be from the Anglo-Saxon word 'hass' meaning 'hatred', and as such was either a nickname for a fierce person, or given the ribald humour of the Medieval Period - the total reverse! Another suggestion is locational from a village name such as 'Hasbury' in Worcestershire, whilst a third possible origin which is equally logical is as a short form of the popular surname 'Hasty'. As it happens the Medieval meaning of 'Hasty' is impetuous, not so far from that of 'hass'. Other recordings include Henry Hasey on April 24th 1587, also at the church of St Gregory and St Paul, whilst Frances Hassey married Robert Pannal at St Martins in the Field, Westminster on August 29th 1632.