Hast

This interesting and uncommon name is of Old French origin, and is one of that group of early European surnames that were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. These were acquired in the first instance with reference to a person's physical attributes or peculiarities, or to mental and moral characteristics. In the case of the surname Haste, lso found as Hast, Hasty and Hastie, the nickname was for a noticeably brisk, speedy or impetuous person, derived from the Old French "hasti", quick, a derivative of the Old French "haste", swiftness; the term was introduced into England and Scotland after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The first of the name to be recorded in Scotland were Robert and John Hasty, tenants of Herthornhill in 1376; examples of the name from English Church Registers include: the christening of Johane, daughter of Richarde Haste, on August 3rd 1555, at Attleborough, Norfolk, and the marriage of Thomas Haste and Elizabeth Moorcocke in Stoke by Nayland, Suffolk, on July 5th 1573. Interestingly, the surname was reintroduced into England by French Huguenot refugees during the late 17th and 18th Centuries; in London, the christening of Jean Jacques, son of Jacques Haste, was recorded at La Patente French Huguenot Church, Spitalfields, on September 1st 1759. A Coat of Arms granted to a Haste family of Brittany depicts three red martlets on a silver shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Hastif, which was dated 1202, in the "Curia Regis Rolls of Wiltshire", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. 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.