Origin
Say : 1: English: of Norman origin a habitational name from Sai in Orne or Say in Indre France perhaps so called from a Gaulish personal name Saius + the Latin locative suffix -acum (see also French name 3 below).2: English: nickname perhaps for someone who made or sold say a type of woollen cloth or for an habitual wearer of clothes made of this material from Middle English sai(e) ‘say’ (Old French saie from Latin saga plural of sagum ‘military cloak’). See also Sayer.3: French (southern): topographic name from saix (from Latin saxum) ‘rock’ or a habitational name from a place called with this word for example Say in Loire Saix in Tarn and Vienne Le Saix in Hautes-Alpes or Les Saix in Isère.4: Burmese (Karen): from a personal name usually forming part of a compound name from say ‘silver’. — Note: Since Karens do not have hereditary surnames this name was registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.5: Cambodian: written សាយ corresponding to the Khmer word of various possible meanings including ‘(to be) prolific’.6: Turkish: ornamental name nickname or topographic name from mostly regional say meaning e.g. ‘flat very thin stone’ and ‘companion’.7: Amerindian (Guatemala): Mayan name from a term denoting a kind of small fish.
Bia : 1: Native American (Navajo): variant of Begay.2: Italian: in southern Italy possibly a variant of Via; in northern Italy possibly a short form of a personal name that begins with Bia-. It is very difficult to say if these are different names.
Chessell : either from Chesthill a lost place in Moreton Say and Stoke upon Tern (Shrops) or from Chessell Freshwater (IoW). Both place-names are spelled as Chesthull in medieval records but the Shrops name is thought to refer to a hill (Old English hyll) where parish boundaries were disputed (the first element is Old English ceast ‘strife contention’) whereas the IoW name refers to a hill where burial chests or coffins were found (the first element is Old English cest ‘chest’) probably referring to the 6th-century pagan cemetery on Chessell Down.
Jessel : 1: German: derivative of Jesse.2: English: perhaps a variant of Chessell with voicing of initial /ʧ/ to /ʤ/ spelled J-. This is a habitational name either from Chesthill a lost place in Moreton Say and Stoke upon Tern (Shropshire) or from Chessell Freshwater (Isle of Wight). Both placenames are spelled as Chesthull in medieval records but the Shropshire name is thought to refer to a hill (Old English hyll) where parish boundaries were disputed (the first element is Old English ceast ‘strife contention’) whereas the Isle of Wight name refers to a hill where burial chests or coffins were found (the first element is Old English cest ‘chest’) probably referring to the 6th-century pagan cemetery on Chessell Down.3: French: diminutive of Jesse.4: Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Yiddish Yossel Yessell a pet form of the personal name Josef (see Joseph).
Paternoster : English German French Flemish Walloon Italian (Apulia and Basilicata) and Slovenian: from Latin pater noster ‘Our Father’ the opening words of the Lord's Prayer which is represented by large beads punctuating the rosary. The surname was a (metonymic) occupational name for a maker of rosaries often a shortened form of the Middle English Middle High German occupational term paternosterer. It may also have been originally a nickname for an excessively pious individual or for someone who was under a feudal obligation to say paternosters for his master as part of the service by which he held land. In England the name is sometimes due to the service by which land was held whereby a number of paternosters were said instead of a monetary payment being made.
Sayarath : Laotian: ornamental name composed of the Lao elements say ‘victory’ and rath ‘king’ also ‘royal’.
Sayavong : Laotian: ornamental name composed of the Lao elements say ‘victory’ and vong ‘lineage origin’. Compare Xayavong.
Skutt : English (Wiltshire): variant of Scutt. In Wiltshire the name sometimes occurs in the same parishes as Scott but whether they are variants of the same name or are surnames of different origin is impossible to say without genealogical evidence.
Spencer : English (Lancashire and Yorkshire): occupational name for someone who dispensed provisions or money from Middle English spenser(e) spencer(e) ‘household steward butler almoner’ (Anglo-Norman French espenser Old French despensier). Compare Spence and Spender. There is some dispute about the origins of the Spencer family whose most famous member in recent times was the late Princess of Wales born Lady Diana Spencer (1961–97). Some sources say that they are descended from William the Conqueror's steward Robert Despencer. What is clear is that by the 15th century they had become prosperous from sheep farming in Northamptonshire. Robert Spencer (died 1627) was said to be the wealthiest man in England. Their titles have included Earls of Sunderland and Earls Spencer; and through the female line the 5th Earl of Sunderland also became Duke of Marlborough in 1733. This connection was the result of the marriage in 1700 of the 3rd Duke of Sunderland to the daughter of John Churchill 1st Duke of Marlborough. The youngest son of this union John Spencer (1708–46) was the father of the 1st Earl Spencer (1734–83).
Styche : from Middle English stic(c)he ‘piece fragment’ (Old English stycce) denoting a piece of land perhaps as in Essex dialect a ploughing land. The surname may be topographic for someone who lived by or cultivated a ‘stitch’ of land or toponymic for someone from a place so named notably Styche in Moreton Say (Shrops).
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Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Oxford Dictionary if Family Names in Britain and Ireland, ©2016, University of the West of England
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