Macy
An English surname likely tied to the Norman place-name de Macey, later spelled Macy, Massey, and Massie.
The #6,521 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 59,340 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is usually traced to the Norman locative name de Macey, meaning someone from a place called Macey or a similar Norman locality. The place-name itself is generally explained as coming from a Gallo-Roman personal name, though the exact deeper root is not always stated with confidence in older sources. In English records, the spelling varied widely, with forms such as Macy, Massy, Massey, and Massie appearing over time.
History
Medieval English records show bearers of the name fairly early, and one Norman line named de Macy is noted in historical charters. Later English and Anglo-Irish branches used many spellings, and the surname spread in that way rather than through a single fixed orthography. In some cases it also overlapped with the unrelated surname Macey, so the history of individual families can differ.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries note that several prominent families descended from the medieval de Macy line and came to use Massy, Massey, or Massie as well as Macy.
From the historical record
“■ TOO. — Wannce Lenthalluid Macy Ha«in« : St Cw. Han. Sq. ii. 106. London, a,a,30\ Pfalladetphia, o, •>, 36. Haswell, HutirelL— Local,”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances