Tosh

Recorded as Tash, Tashe, Tasche, Tesh, and Tosh, this unusual surname is of early medieval English origin. It is a variant of the more familiar Ash or Nash, a topographical name from residence by a prominent ash tree. The derivation is from the early English phrase "atten asche", or at the ash, which later became ate Assh, Nash, Tash, and others. Topographical surnames were among the earliest created, since both natural and man-made features in the landscape provided easily recognizable distinguishing names in the small communities of the Middle Ages. Early examples of the surname include: William atte Nasche and John ater Aysse, noted in the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex in 1273; Henry Aten Assche of Worcestershire, in 1301; Roger atte Ashe in Norfolk, in 1327; and Alan Tassh, recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk also in 1327. Other recordings include examples such as that on December 21st 1611, of Elizabeth Tash, christened at St. Dunstan's in th East, Stepney, and on July 26th 1759, William Tosh, whose daughter Elisabeth, was christened at Swallow Street Scottish Church, city of London. A coat of arms associated with the family name has the blazon of per pale gold and red, a chevron between three cinquefoils counterchanged, on a chief per pale of the second and first, two escallops counterchanged. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Agnes ate Nasse. This was dated 1273, in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire, during the reign of King Edward 1st, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.