This is almost certainly a Huguenot name, not being recorded in England before 1750. It is an anglicized form of the French 'Dreassi', itself a development of the Greek - Roman 'Andreas' a the British 'Andrew'. The original meaning of the name was 'the manly one', and perhaps because of the meaning there are over two hundred European variant surname spelling, recorded from the time of the Domesday Book (1086) in various forms, in this case the name development is quite recent and includes Ann Draysey who married Francis Ross at All Hallows, London Wall, in 1789 and Edwin Draisey who married Julie Donnison, at St. Johns, Nottinghill in 1863. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Benjamin Draysay, which was dated 1752, christened at Endell Street, Lying in Hospital, London, during the reign of King George II, 'The Last Warrior King', 1727 - 1760. 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.

© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024