Massey in France 1690's - Likely Spelling? Help!

Question

Peter Massey born in France about 1695, emigrated to Massey, Maryland (allegedly he has no relation to the town.)

In census information, the family is often listed as "MASSAY" and the name seems to have stuck for several generations before returning to Massey.

Curious if he is actually "Peter Massey", "Pierre Massey / Massay / Masse" and how to go about finding that out. I have ZERO experience with French genealogy and it's news to me that we're French. Soooooo, any help, assistance appreciated. Merci beaucoup.

Answer 1

My advice is do a YDNA test. 67 markers should get you some good info and can point you in the directions you need to go.

I believe the Massey surname originated in Normandy.

Comments

I never expected an answer. That makes lots of sense. Thank you so much for answering my question!!!!

Answer 2

The Massey name has been said to come from La Ferté de Macé, in Normandy. An early Massey noble in England came with William the Conqueror was was known in France as the Sieur de la Ferté de Macé.

Answer 3

He's all of those. People in that era were generally illiterate, so the priest spelt names however he felt like. It's very common for last names to change spellings, especially when a family moves to a different parish. I'm pretty sure that's also true for English names actually.

Comments

Yes! And also different scribes in the same parish will often adopt a different spelling. You've got to keep your mind open in terms of spelling otherwise you end up missing the name you're looking for.

Answer 4

You may find something on geneanet.org under Rechercher (on the green line) click Rechercher mes ancêtres then enter name (Nom) : MACÉ, MACEY, MACAY, MASSÉ, MASSEY, MASSAY, (one name at a time)

and 1st name (Prénom) Pierre (as he probably englicised his name to Peter when living in the US).

There are actually some 133300 answers.

Macé is quite frequent in Brittany,

Massey in Aube (Department nr 10) which is in Champagne, and in Pyrénées-Atlantiques (dpt nr 64) and the ancient province of Béarn (South west of France).

Good luck.

Answer 5

My maternal grandmother was a Masse / Massé from Quebec.  Many of her extended family pronounce it as Massey in English.  We descend from Pierre Masse and Marie Pinet 
https://www.nosorigines.qc.ca/GenealogieQuebec.aspx?genealogie=Masse_Pierre&pid=4375  OR Pierre Masse (1621-1678) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree  He came to New France (Canada) in the 1600s.  His origins are not known but some believe La Rochelle, (Aunis) France and others say he is from La Rochelle-Normande, (Normandy) France.   Names changed for a number of reasons.  For French people moving to an English speaking location the changes could be using English phonetics to spell the name ie Geoffroy became Shoffra  or Geoffroy was anglicized as Geoffrey, Jeffrey, Jefferies. When some of my family moved to Ohio, there was an Irish family of Jeffers already living there and they became Jeffers assuming that would the surname's spelling in English.  There are also cases of direct translation such as Boisvert becoming Greenwood.