Vest
A surname that may be a short form or a corruption of other names, with one old source linking it to French place-names.
The #3,164 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 27,071 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Vest is not securely explained. One 19th-century source treats it as a corruption of Vast, while another places it alongside place-name surnames such as Vesoul and Wesel, suggesting a locational origin in some cases. Because the evidence is thin and inconsistent, the name is best treated as uncertain rather than given a single firm derivation.
History
The name appears in English records early enough to have established itself as a hereditary surname, but the old dictionaries do not give a consistent explanation for its source. In modern usage it is uncommon, though it survives in English-speaking countries and may sometimes reflect different origins in different family lines. The surname should not be confused with the common noun vest.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One historical surname dictionary explicitly says Vest is a corruption of Vast.
From the historical record
“from Vesoul, a town of France, dep. H. Saone ; or from Wesel, a town of Rhenish Prussia. VEST. A corruption of Vast, q. v. VICE. See VOICE. VILE. From the name Viel ; from O. Fr. le viel, the old. Lower says Vile is probably a corruption of the Fr. La Ville. VINEGAR. The same as Winegar ; from 0. G. win-ger, very…”
— Ludus Patronymicus; or, the etymology of curious surnames