Macey

Macey is a variant spelling of Macy. Macy (or Massey) is the transferred use of a medieval English surname with Old French origins. The surname developed from a location name (various villages in Normandy called Macey or Massy), names which were derived from the ancient Roman personal name Maccius (a Latin variant of Matthew). Matthew ultimately comes from the Hebrew Matityahu meaning “Gift of Yahweh” (Greek: Matthias). The first recorded spelling of the surname was rendered as “Masci” in the Domesday Book of 1086. Surnames became widespread in Britain during the Middle Ages as a means of identification for the purposes of taxation. Due to the high rate of illiteracy in medieval England, as well as the disparity among local dialects, the pronunciations and spellings of surnames developed slowly over time into their modern standardized forms (in this case, Macey, Macy, Maycey, Mascey, Massey, Massie, and Massy are all variations of last names which ultimate came from Maccius). As a forename for baby girls, Macey is mainly a late 20th century coinage which was likely influenced by similar sounding female names like Stacey, Tracey and Lacey.