Massie
A Norman place-name surname, especially associated with Cheshire, originally meaning someone from a place called Massy or Massay in France.
The #3,296 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 28,273 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Massie is generally treated as a Norman locational surname. The name is linked to places in Normandy called Massy or Massay, rather than to the English word “mass.” Some older writers also connected it with a Latinized estate-name, but the basic sense is still “one who came from Massy/Massay.”
History
The surname was brought to England after the Norman Conquest and became especially prominent in Cheshire. Lower and Bardsley associate the English family with Hamon Massie, a Norman who held Dunham, and the place has long been known as Dunham Massey. The name also appears in Scottish and Irish records, and spelling varies between Massie and Massey.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A traditional Cheshire saying poked fun at the family’s size: “As many Massies as asses.”
From the historical record
“2 Mass-Priest [O.E. mcessere] MASSEY ^ (Fr.) 1 Bel. to Mac6, Mtcey, or MASSIE )■ Massy (villages in Normandy) = MASSY ) Matheus's Estate [La t. Ma^Az- acum; -dc-um being the Lat. form of the Gaul. poss. suff. -dc-os] A de Mad ocpnrs in the list of ' Com- pagnons de Guillaume a la Conquete de I'Angleterre en MLXVI '…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)