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Origin / History of the Nash Name

This famous surname much associated with Georgian period of the 18^th Century, is of early medieval English origin.  It is topographical and describes a person who lived ‘at an ash (tree).’  In ancient history the ash tree held particular significance, being considered to have magical powers, perhaps because of the many and varied uses of the wood.  As a result local tribes often met held their meetings at an ash tree, when business would be conducted, and any court proceedings held. In some cases ash trees were specially planted to provide boundary markers between differing tribal territories.  Early examples of the surname include: Agnes Ate Nasse in the ‘Hundred Rolls’ of Oxfordshire, 1273; William atte Nasche and John ater Aysse, both noted in the ‘Subsidy Rolls’ of Sussex in 1273; Henry Aten Assche of Worcestershire in 1301; and Alan Tassh, in the ‘Subsidy Rolls’ of Suffolk, 1327.  In the modern idiom, forms of the name containing the fused preposition ‘atte’ include: Tash, Tasch, Tesh and Tesche, with Nash, Nayshe and Naish resulting from a misdivision of the phrase ‘atten asche’.  Later examples include: Elizabeth Tash, christened at St. Dunstan's in the East, Stepney, in 1611, and Alice Nash and Edward Sproson who were married at St. Giles Church, Cripplegate, City of London, in 1611.  

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