Loseby

Recorded in several spellings including Losebee, Losebye, Losbey, Loseby, Losbie and Loasbie, this is a post medieval English locational surname with some Danish -Viking origins. It derives from the village name Losbye, a place in Leicestershire, the village being situated about ten miles from the county capital Leicester. The origination is the Olde English word "hlose" from the pre 7th century a.d. and the Danish "bi" and translating as the stock farm, although "hlose" can also be used specifically to mean hog or pig. Most locational surnames descend either from the first lord of the manor, or from villagers who left their original home and moved elsewhere in search of work. It was an easy form of identification to call "strangers" by the name of the place from whence they came, it was also easy to mis-spell the name, education even at the highest levels being erratic and local dialects, even village to village, being very individual. Early examples of the name recording taken from authentic surviving Leicestershire church registers include Henrie Losebee who married Mary Tilley at Twyford on November 28th 1609, and James Loseby, who married Dorothy Neal at Little Dalby, on January 17th 1688. The first known recording may be that of Grace Losebee, christened at Twyford on November 18th 1592. This was during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st, known as "Good Queen Bess" 1558 - 1603.