Buxey

This rare and interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a diminutive of the Olde English pre 7th Century given name "Bucc", which is an example of that sizeable group of early European surnames that were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. The nicknames were given in the first instance with reference to a variety of qualities, such as physical attributes or peculiarities, mental and moral characteristics, including supposed resemblance to an animal's or bird's appearance or disposition. In this instance the derivation is either from the Olde English "bucca", Middle English "buc", he-goat, and the nickname would have been given to a stubborn, wild person, or from the Olde English "bucc", Middle English "buk", a male deer, in this case the nickname would have been given to a quick runner. This name is the first element in many placenames, including Buxhall and Buxlow. In the modern idiom the surname can be found as Buxey, Buxy, Buxsey, Buxsy, Buxcey and Buxcy. Recordings of the surname from English Church Registers include: the marriage of Robert Buxy and Anne Rickets on October 8th 1663, at Complon Beauchamp, Berkshire; the marriage of William Buxey and Barbara Bone at Kilmeston, Hampshire, on January 29th 1704; and the marriage of Anne Buxcey and William Brindley on June 22nd 1795, at Shareshill, Staffordshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Elizabeth Buxey, which was dated June 22nd 1619, marriage to Robert Jolley, at Holy Trinity Church, Chester, Cheshire, during the reign of King James 1 of England and V1 of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. 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.