Chase surname meaning

Chase is an English occupational surname for a huntsman or hunter. It comes from Middle English chase, “hunt,” from Old French chasse or chasser, and could describe someone who pursued game professionally or worked in a lord’s hunting grounds. A skilled or persistent hunter might also receive the word as a nickname, so occupation and nickname can overlap in individual records. Chace and Chasey are useful historical comparisons. The catalog uses occupation with high confidence because the medieval hunting vocabulary directly supplies the surname, while avoiding a claim about a particular forest or employer.