Voyce

This unusual name is of French, probably Huguenot, origin, since it is first recorded at the beginning of the 17th Century (see below) not long after the first influx of French and Flemish Huguenot refugees into England escaping religious persecution on the Continent. The name "voyce" or "voice" is the southern English form of the French name "Foy" or "Foys", which can be either a nickname from the Old French "foi", faith, given to a particularly pious person, or perhaps to someone who habitually used the term in oathes, or it can be from the medieval female personal name "Foy", which is also from "foi", faith, as above. One "Robert Voyce" was married to "Mary Thetcher" on the 18th September 1637 at St. Gregory by St. Paul, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Andrew Voys, christened, which was dated 15th August 1622, St. Andrew's, Holborn, London, during the reign of King James I, of England and VI of Scotland, 1603 - 1625. 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.