This surname, of Anglo-Saxon origin, is either a topographical name for someone who lived near a prominent ash tree, deriving from the Olde English pre 7th Century "oesc" meaning "ash", or it may be a locational name from some minor place so named. Topographical surnames were among the earliest created, since both natural and man-made features in the landscape provided easily recognisable distinguishing names in the small communities of the Middle Ages, and locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually in search of work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace.
The name dates back to the early 13th Century (see below), and further recordings include: John de le Es in the 1273 Subsidy Rolls of Norfolk; Ralph de Asche in the 1296 Subsidy Rolls of Sussex; and Joan atte-Eshe in the 1345 Subsidy Rolls of Norfolk. Variations in the idiom of the spelling include: Ash, Ashe, Aysh, Asch, Asche, Aish and Esh, Esch and Esche. Katherine Ash married John Ryce at St. Margaret's, Westminster, London, on October 4th 1601. Christopher Ash, an early emigrant to the New World was resident in Virginia in 1622, and John Ash (1723 - 1798) was the first physician of the General Hospital Birmingham and held various posts in the Colleges of Physicians. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard del Eshe, which was dated 1221, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Worcestershire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
The origin, the coat of arms or the different heraldic shields, and the bibliography in which the surname esch is mentioned are part of this exciting investigation.
The list of countries with a higher presence of people with the surname esch provides us with a perspective on the history of the surname, beyond its origins, focusing on its migrations.
For those like you, who are interested in the history hidden behind the surname esch, it is essential to find all kinds of information, both direct and tangential, that helps to construct a solid narrative of how the birth and expansion of esch developed.
We keep our website updated through our own research and also thanks to contributions from people like you, after verification; so if you have information about esch and send it to us, we will update it on this website.
Sadly, not all the contributions of those who bore the surname esch were recorded by the chroniclers of the time. It is our desire to highlight in this section those individuals with the surname esch who, for various reasons, have left their mark on the course of history.
The origin, history, coat of arms or different coats of arms, and the heraldry of esch are recorded in a wide variety of sources and documents that are essential to know for better compilation.
These sources are essential for initiating the understanding of esch, and at the same time, of surnames in general.