Peachey
An English surname probably developed as a spelling variant of Peche, later influenced by the word peach and the spelling -ey.
The #8,432 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 78,802 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest historical explanation treats Peachey as a later form of the older surname Peche, which appears in medieval records and was Latinized as De Peccato. Some antiquarian writers thought the name was pronounced as two syllables, “Peach-e,” and linked it to a rebus involving peach trees and the letter E. Another line of explanation, noted by Harrison, analyzes Peachey as Peache plus the diminutive suffix -ey, suggesting a form shaped by spelling and pronunciation rather than a straightforward word meaning.
History
The name is found in English records in several spellings, including Peche, Pechey, Peachy, and Peachey. Lower connected the modern form with the old baronial family Peche, while later surname dictionaries continued to cross-reference the variants rather than treating them as entirely separate names. The surname seems to have been established in England by the medieval period and then stabilized in modern spelling over time.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A 19th-century source notes that the arms of the Peachey family were thought to descend from those of the older Peche family, and the spelling was even illustrated by a peach-tree rebus in stained glass.
From the historical record
“J. Delpeche.— Pflm Directory. PEACHEY= Peaoh(q.v.)+the E..dim. suff. -ey. PEACOCK "I (Eng.) a nickname and sign- PEACOCKE J name from the Peacock [v. Pea; and + cock, O.E. cocc"] PEAK \ (Eng.) Dweller at a Pointed Hill PEAKE; [M.E. pec, pek; O.E. p^ac, a var. of”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)