Grass
A surname that can mean either “the fat, stout one” or someone who lived by a patch of grass or meadow.
The #7,301 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 67,604 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname has at least two plausible roots. In one line of explanation, it comes from French gras, meaning “fat” or “stout,” used as a nickname for a robust person. In another, it is a local name from Middle English at the grass, meaning someone who lived by the grass or a grassy place.
History
Historical surname collections record both nickname and topographic uses, and early spellings such as atte Grase support the place-based explanation in some cases. Because the same form could arise from different sources, individual family lines may not share a single origin. The name is also related to older spellings like Gras and sometimes overlapped with Grace in later records.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early English records include forms like “atte Grase,” literally meaning “at the grass.”
From the historical record
“GRANVILLE. See Grenville. GRASS. Fr. gras. Fat, stout. GRASSBY. A parish in Lincolnshu-e. GRATTON. A liamlet in Derbyshire. GRAVE. 1. A northern pronunciation of Grove. 2. A bailiff or reeve. 3. A ca\'e. 4. A personal name, whence Graves and Graveson. GRxVVELEY. Parishes in the counties of”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Grass
- Günter Grass (1927–2015)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.