Recorded in several forms including Dyce, Dye, Dyas, Dyason, Dyerson, Dyos and Dyson, this is an English medieval surname. It is a short or nickname form of the given name Dionysios or Dionisia, both of Greek origins and both mean "The Divine One of Nysa". Nyas is a holy mountain in Afghanistan, where Alexander the Great, is traditionally supposed to have rested whilst conquering most of the known world. As a personal name only Dye is recorded in the Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire for the year 1301, whilst the surname appears shortly afterwords, with spellings such as Dy and Dei being recorded in the Poll Tax Returns also of Yorkshire, which may be described as the original epi-centre of the name, in 1379. Examples of the surname recordings taken from early surviving church registers include: Elizabeth Dye, who was christened at St. Andrew's church, Enfield, Middlesex on March 25th 1563, and Aeron Dyes at St James church, Clerkenwell in 1664. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Dye. He was a witness at the court of the Manor of Wakefield, Yorkshire, in 1316. This was during the reign of King Edward 11nd of England, 1307 - 1327. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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