Ashe
A surname usually meaning “at the ash tree,” from someone who lived by a notable ash tree or ash landmark.
The #4,573 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,807 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ashe is generally a topographic surname from Middle English ash, meaning the ash tree, with the sense “at the ash” or “by the ash tree.” The forms with atte, atten, or at- in medieval records show how the preposition was attached to a place description and later simplified into a hereditary surname. Some families may also have taken the name from places called Ash or Ashe in England, so more than one local origin is possible.
History
Medieval records show early forms such as atte Ashe and at-Ash, especially in Norfolk and other parts of England. The surname spread as hereditary surnames became fixed, and it later appears in Irish contexts as a local name translated or adapted from English or Norman-French forms. In some cases, the name may also reflect settlement near a distinctive ash tree rather than a town or village called Ash.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Old surname records sometimes preserve the little word at/atten, which is a clue that the name began as a simple address: “the person who lived by the ash tree.”
From the historical record
“Boilon (U.S,), I. Ash, Ashe, AyBh.— Local, 'at the ash,' from the original bearer's residence by a certain ash-tree; cf. Birch, I3ak, Lynde, and v. Nash. ' Esche-tre — fiojnHus ' : Prompt Parv. p. 143.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances