Taze

 Taze is an obscure masculine name most closely associated with Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916), an early 20th century Christian minister whose theologies and teachings provided the foundation for the restorative Bible Student movement (from which the Jehovah Witnesses would eventually emerge). It took some research to track down the source of Pastor Russell’s middle name (“Taze”), but it’s been widely conjectured and somewhat verified that it likely comes from a Scottish-Irish family name “Tays” (a common surname around Londonderry, Northern Ireland, from where Russell’s father emigrated). Russell was named after his uncle, Charles Tays Russell, though the spelling was slightly altered for some unknown reason (they are phonetically the same). The surname Tays (Gaelic: tatha) was probably taken from the River Tay, Scotland’s longest river – where the Tays family likely originated before emigrating to the Northern part of Ireland.  The etymology of the word “Tay/Tatha” is believed to come from an Older Gaelic name Tua or Tuae meaning “the silent one” (a name borne by an early Scottish saint). Taze is also an American word first attested to in the 1970s; it’s essentially a transitive verb related to the Taser Gun – an electroshock weapon used by law enforcement to immobilize a person. In this case, it’s a made-up word (and a trademarked one, at that!). The man who invented the Taser named it after his boyhood hero:  “Thomas A. Swift’s electric rifle”  (a series of early 20th century sci-fi/adventure novels for young boys).