Masey

Recorded in many spelling forms including Macy, Masey, Measey, and Massey, this is an English surname but arguably of French origins. Introduced into England after the Norman Conquest of 1066, it has two possible derivations. Firstly, it may be from the male given name "Masse", a pet form of Matthew, from the Hebrew "Matityahu", meaning a Gift of God. Mathiu and Maci (without surname) are recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, and Alan Macy is noted in the Hundred Rolls of Suffolk in 1275. Secondly the surname may be locational from any of the various places in Northern France which get their names from the Gallo-Roman personal name "Maccius", for example; Macey in La Manche, Massy, (Seine-Inferieure), Mace-sur-Orne (Orne), La Ferte Mace (Orne) and Marcy (La Manche). Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. The development of the surname from both sources includes: Hugo Mascy (1221, Huntingdonshire); John de Maci (1221, Middlesex); and William Massy (1330, Nottinghamshire). Recordings of the name from church registers include the marriage of John Massey and Mawde Fothergell at St. Margaret's, Westminster, on September 22nd 1571, and the christening of Thomas Measey, at St. Andrew Hubbard, on May 23rd 1585. An early Coat of Arms granted to a Massey family depicts three silver fleurs-de-lis on a red shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hamo de Masci, which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Essex, during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.