Bussey
A surname of place-based origin, probably from Norman French Buci/Bussy and possibly linked to the English place-name Bushey.
The #4,880 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 42,768 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Bussey is usually explained as a locational surname. The strongest historical line points to Norman French forms such as Buci or Bussy, ultimately from a place-name in Normandy, with medieval spellings in the Buci/Bussi family of forms. Some 19th-century writers also connected it with Bushey in Hertfordshire, but the Norman explanation is generally treated as the likelier one in the older scholarship.
History
Lower specifically notes medieval spellings such as Buci and Bussi and connects the name with a place in Normandy, while Bardsley allows that some English families may have been taken from Bushey. The surname appears in variant spellings such as Bussey, Busse, Bussy, and related forms, reflecting the loose medieval spelling of French locational names. It has remained a relatively uncommon surname in England and later in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Lower mentions that one branch of the same family gave its name to Kingston-Buci, later known as Bowsey, in Sussex.
From the historical record
“BUSTIN, See Buss. BUSSEY, Anciently written Buci, Bussi, &c., probably from Boussei, a place in the arrondissement of Evreux, in Norraand3^ Rol.iert de Boci was a tenant in chief in co. Northampt. Domesd. One of the same family gave the suffix to Kingston-Buci or Bowsey, co. Sussex. BUSTER. The local pronunciation…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom