The English surname Nash is of a local origin, meaning that it is a name derived from the place where a man once lived or where he once held land. The source of the name can be traced to the Old English word "aesc" and the name itself is an abreviated form of "atten ash", that is, "at the ash tree". Thus, the original bearer of the name lived at, or near, the ash tree which distinguished him from others who may have had a similar first name.
The name is recorded in English documents as early as 1221. In that year a Richard del Eshe is listed in the Assize Rolls for Worcestershire. In 1296 Ralph de Asche is registered in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex along with Alice aten Eysse and John ater Aysse. In 1890, Henry Guppy published "Homes of Family Names" which identified that the name "Nash" was most numerous in the English counties of Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey.
Motto: In Utroque Fidelis Translation (Faithful in Either Case)
Notable
bearers of the name :
Thomas Nash (1567-1601) English Poet, Dramatist and Pamphleteer. Born in Lowestoft
and settled in London 1588. Later works include the satirical Pierce Pennilesse
1592, religious Christes Teares over Jerusalem 1593 and the comedy Summer's
Last Will and Testament 1592.
Richard "Beau" Nash (1674 -1762) British Aristocrat. From 1705 he was the master of ceremonies at Bath and made it the most fashionable watering-place in England, introducing a more polished code of manners into general use.
Paul Nash (1889 -1946) British Artist. Born in London. Became famous for his paintings of World War I, such as The Menin Road, in which he created strange patterns out of the scorched landscape of the Western Front. In World War II he was appointed official war artist to the Air Ministry. His two most celebrated works are Totes Meer / Dead Sea and The Battle of Britain.
John Northcote Nash (1893 -1977) British Landscape Artist and Engraver. Brother of artist Paul Nash.
Ogden Nash (1902-1971) American poet. Born in Rye, New York. He published numerous volumes of humerous, and quietly puncturing satire in verse with unorthodox rhyme. Publications include "Hard Lines" 1931, "The Face is Familiar" 1941, "Collected Verses" 1961.
