Voce

Recorded in many forms including Vaus, Vaux, Voss, Voce, and Voice, as well as Foss, Fauce, Fauce, and Foce, this is an English medieval surname. It has at least two possible origins. The first is Norman, and locational. As such it was introduced into England after the famous Conquest of 1066, and describes a former resident of one of the various places in northern France called "Vaux". This place name is the Old French plural of "val", meaning a valley. The first recording of the surname from this source would seem to be that of Ralph de Vaus, who appears in the Register of the Knight Templars of England in the year 1185. The second possible origin is Anglo- Saxon, and as such a developed form of the Old English pre 7th century word "foss", meaning a canal or ditch or possibly a road between such waterways. In this case the name denotes residence at such a place or by the famous road, the Roman Fosse Way which bisects the country from Lincoln to Exeter. Early examples of the surname spelling found in the surviving registers of the diocese of Greater Lonfon include John Voce at the church of St Botolphs without Aldgate, on May 7th 1577, and Elizabeth Voice who married James Sidwell at St James Clerkenwell, on June 18th 1664. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert de Vaux. This was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of the county of Essex, during the reign of King William Ist of England, 1066 - 1087. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.