This is a very unusual and interesting surname. Recorded over the centuries in the spellings of Favey, Favye, Fivie, Fivey, and Fyvie, it would seem to be a surname of English origins. That said it does not seems to be recorded in any of the above spellings in any of the known dictionaries of the British Isles including Ireland, although it is quite well recorded in the surviving church registers of in particular, the city of London, from the time of Queen Elizabeth 1st (1558 - 1603). It is also one of those rare surnames which has no obvious association with any other, making research into the origin much more difficult. An examination of medieval records does however appear to offer a potential clue as to the meaning and origin. In the 15th century there were recordings of a rare name Fivefeet, as in John Ffyvefet, in the Close Rolls for the city of London in the 12th year (1411) of the reign of King Henry 1Vth (1399 - 1413). This name at least in this spelling, is very rare after this time although we do have a solitary recording on March 8th 1752 with that of William Fivefoot at St Georges chapel, Mayfair. We have no explanation as to what happened to that name in the missing three hundred years, as in theory at least after 1535, church registrations of births, deaths and marriages in England were compulsory. Is Fivefoot the same as Favey/Fivey? What we can say is that on July 25th 1600 Alice Fivye married George Vanhook ( a Dutchman?), at St Dionis Backchurch, in the city of London.

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