Kesey

This unusual and interesting name is a variant form of the early Medieval English surname "Kiss", also found as "Cuss(e)", "Kisser" and "Kissa". The name "Kiss" is a metonymic occupational surname for a maker of leg armour, normally of leather, derived from the Anglo-Norman French "cuisse", thigh (piece), from the Latin "coxa", thigh. The surname development has included William Kysse (1329, Suffolk), Laurence Kyshe (1573, London), Ann Kissie (1623, Gloucestershire), Walter Keesy (1667, ibid.), Richard Kezzie (1687, Wiltshire) and John Kesy (1707, London). The modern surname "Keasey", also found as "Keasy" and "Kesey", is recorded mainly in the counties of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire. The christening of Mary Keasey was recorded at St. Andrew's, Holborn, London, on November 26th 1716. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Kisse, which was dated 1327, in the "Leicestershire Subsidy Rolls", during the reign of King Edward 11, known as "Edward of Caernafon", 1307 - 1327. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.