Causey
A surname most often derived from a causeway or raised road, referring to someone who lived by such a place.
The #3,171 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 27,114 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Causey is an old English surname tied to the word causey, meaning a causeway or raised paved path. The form ultimately goes back through Anglo-French to Latin calcetum, literally a place paved with stones or gravel. In surname use, it most likely began as a topographic name for someone who lived near a causeway, though some place-based examples may also have contributed.
History
Lower explicitly explains CAUSEY as a name for someone associated with a causeway and notes a Sussex priory named from its position at the end of a causeway. Bardsley likewise treats it as local and says the surname appears especially in Devon, with early spellings showing many variants. The name survives as a relatively uncommon English surname and is also found in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley notes that the everyday word causeway helped preserve the surname’s older pronunciation and spelling history.
From the historical record
“CAULTON. See Calton. CAUSEY. A causeway, or raised path, latinized De Calceto. A priory in Sussex bore this designation from its having stood at the end of a causewaj\ CAVALIER. A horseman, knight. CAVALL. "Caval signifieth a horse." Camd. Fr. cJicval, from Lat. cabaUus. CAVE. Two parishes in Yorkshire, called…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom