Chase
Usually a locational surname meaning someone who lived by or came from a hunting preserve called a chase.
The #649 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 5,883 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Chase comes from the common medieval word for a hunting preserve or deer park, a "chase," rather than from the verb "to chase." In medieval usage, a chase was a privileged tract of land set aside for game, between a forest and a park in status. The name was therefore given to someone who lived by, worked at, or came from such a place.
History
English records show the surname in medieval and later forms tied to places described as "the chase." It also spread strongly in the United States, where it became a fairly common surname. Some early writers treated it as especially local in sense, and the same explanation is still the standard one.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The historical word "chase" in this surname has nothing to do with pursuit as a verb; it refers to a legally defined hunting ground.
From the historical record
“France. CHASE. A chase " is a privileged place for the receipt of deer, &c., being of a middle nature betwixt a forest and a park." Nelson's Laws of Game. CH ATA WAY. From its termination, doubtless local. CHATER. A river of Rutlandshire Is”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom