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Paces of three origins have submitted queries to the Pace Network. By far the majority have been of English origin. However, the surname Pace also exists in Italy. Also, some Pace lines trace to Germany, although there is no such name in the German language. German Pace lines are the result of changing a somewhat similar name to Pace after coming to this country. At the end of this document are comments on the Italian and German Pace names and some information from Canada on possible Jewish origins and variations of the name Pace.
The Ancient History of the Distinguished Surname Pace
In July, 1992, Katherine Pace Baldwin of the Pace Society of America visited England and brought back the following which was printed in Pace Bulletin No. 101, September, 1992. The source is York Minster, a cathedral in the city of York, in Yorkshire, northern England. A "minster" (note - NOT spelled "minister") is a monastery church or other important church, as in "Westminster Abbey". York Minster has a large library which is the most probable source of this document.
Research of the Chronicles of England indicates the name Pace to be of Norman origin, ranking amongst the oldest. The history of the name is an intricate crossweave within the fabric of the tapestry of ancient Britain.
Detailed research by skilled analysts examining such ancient manuscripts as the Domesday Book (compiled in 1086 by William the Conqueror), the Ragman Rolls, the Inquisitios, the Wace poem, the Honour Roll of the Battel Abbey, the Curia Regis, Pipe Rolls, the Falaise Roll, tax records, baptismals, family genealogies, local parish and church records show the first record of the name Pace was found in Cheshire where they were seated from very early times and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 AD
Alternative spellings were traced in the archives, linked to a common root, typically one of the Norman nobles or warriors at the Battle of Hastings. Although your name, Pace, occurred in many references from time to time, included amongst the spellings were Pace, Pase, Pacy, and these changes in spelling occurred even between father and son. Scribes recorded the name phonetically as it sounded. Many people were born with one spelling, married with another, and buried with another. All three spellings were one and the same person. Sometimes kinsmen and women spelled their names as they liked, indicating a different branch of the family, a religious preference, or sometimes to proclaim a national heritage.
The surname Pace is believed to have arrived in England from Normandy, a race frequently but mistakenly assumed to be of French origin. More accurately they were of Viking origin. The Vikings landed in the Orkneys and Northern Scotland about the year 870 AD, under their King, Stirgud the Stout. Thorfinn Rollo, his descendent, landed in northern France about the year 940 AD The French King, Charles the Simple, after Rollo laid siege to Paris, finally conceded defeat and granted northern France to Rollo. Rollo was the first Duke of the newly created land of Normandy, the territory of the North Men. Rollo married Charles' daughter and became a convert to Christianity. Duke William, who invaded England at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, was descended from the first Duke Rollo of Normandy.
Duke William compiled a census of most of England in 1086, a census which became known a century later as the Domesday Book. It became the authority, the point of departure, for the ownership of land in England.
The surname Pace emerged as a distinguished English family name in the county of Cheshire where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity seated as Lords of the manor and estates in that shire. This distinguished Norman family originated with the Sire of Pace in Pacy Su Eure at Evreux in Normandy. Their castle in Normandy was take over by the Osbornes when they [the Paces] left with William in the Conquest of England. They were granted lands in Cheshire by Robert the Earl of Leicester and became Lords of the manor in Ingleton in that shire. William Pacy died in 1153. The family flourished on their estates for several centuries. Notable amongst the family at this time was Pace of Ingleton.
The surname Pace added much influence to the local social and political life and to the affairs of England. During the 12th century many of these Norman families moved north to Scotland in the train of the Earl of Huntingdon, later to become King David of Scotland. The 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries brought many religious and political injustices. The Monarchy, the Church and Parliament fought for supremacy. Religion was divided by the Church of State, the Roman Church, and the Reform Church. Each faction, in its time, imposed its influence and penalties on rich and poor alike. Loyalties were engineered, marriages were arranged to acquire greater possessions, estates and influence at court. Many families were freely "encouraged" to migrate to Ireland, or to the "colonies". Nonbelievers or dissidents were banished, sometimes even hanged.
The settlers in Ireland became known as the Adventurers for Land in Ireland. They contracted to keep the Protestant faith, both for their families and also for those who worked for them. There is no evidence that the family name migrated to Ireland, but this does not preclude the possibility of their scattered migration to that country.
The rumours of the attractions of the New World spread like wildfire. Many sailed aboard the fleet of sailing ships known as the "White Sails". The stormy Atlantic, small pox, dysentery, cholera and typhoid took its toll of the settlers and many of the overcrowded ships arrived with only 60 or 70% of their passenger list. The migration or banishment to the New World continued, some went voluntarily from Ireland, but most, directly from England of Scotland, their home territories. Some clans and families even moved to European countries.
In North America, migrants which could be considered a kinsman of the family name Pace, or variable spellings of that same family name, included Henry Pace settled in Virginia 1638; also Richard in 1626; Robert Pace settled in New England in 1748; H. Pace settled in Philadelphia in 1823. From the port of arrival many settlers joined the wagon trains westward. During the American War of Independence some declared their loyalty to the Crown and moved northward into Canada and became known as the United Empire Loyalists.
Meanwhile, the family of this surname was active in the social stream. There were many notables of this name Pace; Frank Pace, American Lawyer and Executive Officer.
In the process of researching this distinguished family name we also traced the most ancient grant of Arms from the branches which developed their own Arms.
The most ancient grant of a Coat of Arms found was:
Purple with three gold disks.
The Crest was:
A boar's head.
[Note from Webmaster: Some of the information in this "carefully researched" article is evidence that you should not believe everything that is in print. Of Richard Pace, listed as 1626, we know from hard evidence that he received a grant of land from the King in 1620, based on the requirement that all who received 100 acres had to be in the colony by at least 1616. Also, according to Bruce Howard, Henry Pace never actually settled here, but merely allowed his name to be used by people settled here as a "headright" so that they could receive grants of land for bringing others from England. Bruce says he was a sailor who made various trips to the colonies and apparently received money from the colonist who used his name for this subterfuge. However, the research on the ancient aspects of the name seems more solidly grounded. It was not the focus of this study to research the name in America, and obviously less care was taken with this part of the research.]
ITALIAN PACE NAME: The root for the name is the same in English and Italian: The Latin word for "Peace". It is interesting to me that the English name Pace ended up exactly the same as the Italian although the Latin is from which it is derived is slightly different. The Italian word "pace" (meaning "peace") is pronounced "pah-chee" or something similar. The Latin word for Peace is "Pax", pronounced "Pox". So the English spelled it the same as the Italians, but pronounced it differently.
21 June 1997 -- Rosario Pace of Naples, Italy, is researching the Pace surname there. Here is what he knows as of this date:
I am still searching for information about the origin of the italian branch of the family; I have a lot of problem, first because i am a little young, and also because, as I have said to you in the last message, all my grandfather relatives are dead.
Anyway I will continue to search information about my family branch and, please, if you knows of someone there in USA with relatives here in Italy I woula appreciate a lot any piece of information they could send me.
I was already aware of the ancestor cavalier who fights in the Hastings Battle. Some rumors says that the Italian Branch of the Family rosed in the north of Italy, near Milano and Varese.
I have found also connection to the town of Busto Arstizio, but I was unable to verify them.
What I knows about the family name is that it could also be of celtic origins, something like Ap Axius, translated then into the Italian form Pacius, Pace.
This is only a congettural tranformation of the Name, referring to an old tome I have studied, where the autor says that foreign names and Surnames usually were translated in the latinum most similar word. But I am not sure of this, I have to go on with my studies.
Rosario Pace alioshin@mbox.vol.it
Click here to go to Rosario's query on the Italian Pace page.
GERMAN PACES: Although the name "Pace" is not German, certain German names have been rendered as "Pace" in English. One instance was that of William Pace, born in Prussia in 1790, and his children, who came to Ohio. I believe the German name was probably Paß. That last funny looking letter is a German double S, a letter we do not have in English. It was recorded here as "Pazz" or "Pase" and eventually became "Pace." Interestingly, Paß in Germany is the verb "pace", as in "pace back and forth", while the English and Italian versions both mean "Peace". To go to the query related to German Paces, and from there to a further explanation, click here.
All Paces of whatever origin are welcome to submit queries on the Pace page.
Further information about possible origins of the name Pace among the Germans of Pennsylvania:
Subj: Origins of German Paces Date: 97-04-28 19:13:23 EDT
From: JimP46
I was reading your origins of the Pace name. According to the book "Early Germans of New Jersey" the Pace name was originally Pees with an umlot (However you spell it) over the one e. This would make it sound paz as you suggest. Just something to think about.
Webmaster response:
Jim, there is no such thing as an umlaut over an e in the German language. The only German umlauts are ä, ö, and ü. These umlauts are usually written in English as :ae (ä), oe (ö) and ue (ü). "Paes" is therefore a possibility, and would actually be pronounced a little like Pace. Maybe they spelled it as Pees in Pennsylvania. Such changes were not uncommon. They spelled things every which way in old documents. I can't find any German word Pees in my dictionary, but that does not mean it doesn't exist.
<<This would make it sound paz as you suggest>>
The umlaut over the vowel does not change the sound of the consonant "z" at the end, so it would not have the sound of "Pazz". As a matter of fact, that sound does not exist in German. ,The letter "z" in German is pronounced like the "ts" sound in English. The closest sound to "z" is the double s or ß. The Germans give that a much more hissing sound than we do, as if it were ssss. I still think Paß is the most likely candidate for the name Pazz in America, and for the Germans who adopted the name Pace here.
Both explanations could be true. The Pennsylvania German Paces could have been Paes or Pees, and the Ohio German Paces could have been Paß. rendered as Pazz in English.
Do you have that book? If so, could you send me the exact quote from that part? I would be very interested in it.
Thanks for your contribution. Learning about the stories of Pennsylvania German Paces (even though they were not originally Paces in Germany, as the name did not exist there) adds another new dimension to Pace study. Someone needs to research the background to the rumors of German Paces and find out if and when the name got changed, or what happened. It cannot be emphasized too often that THE NAME PACE IS NOT GERMAN; IT DOES NOT EXIST IN GERMANY.
Roy
Gordon Pace of Ontario, Canada, came across the following from Debbie Blayham, also of Ontario, on the Pass surname in England, relationship to Pace, etc.
It is possible that the two surnames "Pace" and "Pass" are related, but I think it is much further back than 1850. My grandfather lived in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire where he was born in 1893 before he came to Canada in 1923, but all his ancestors before him came from Derbyshire.
I have traced our family back to 1702 so far and I am still digging. According to the "Dictionary of English" surnames by P. H. Reany (Oxford Press) "Pass or Passe is English, and was first recorded in 1230 in the Pipe Rolls for Nottinghamshire. It is thought to have been derived from a pet form of the name Pascall, which in turn comes from the French name "Pascal". "Paschalis" is Latin for "pertaining to the Passover".
In this same book, "Pace" is also said to be English, and was first recorded in 1242 in Devonshire. Middle English shows it as "Pais" or "Pes(e)", Old French shows it as "Pais" and Latin shows it as "Pax" which means "peace, concord or amity". As Middle English it also appears as "Pasches", "Paisch, "Peice", "Peace" and Easter eggs are still called "Pace" eggs. This book also says that a later variation of "Pace" may also be "Pash". Variations of this include "Pashe", "Paish", "Pask", "Paske" and "Pasque". This variation was first recorded in 1253 in Oxfordshire. Middle English records this name first as "Pasche(s)", or "Paske(s)". Old French records the name as "Pasche" or "Pasques" and means "Passover" from the Hebrew word "pesakh" and translates as "a passing over", and was used as a personal name for one born at Passover. Most "English" names came from somewhere else originally.
There have been so many invaders/visitors to that little island over the centuries, so this gives a starting point in time. Since "Pass" seemed to be Jewish in origin, I contacted a Jewish etymologist online, and this is what he had to say "..."PASS", was probably anglicized and shortened from something else. Alexander Beider, in his "Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from the Russian Empire" lists, i.e.; PASS, POSS, PAS, PAFS, PAZ, PACE, PASCAL, PASCHAL, PASCALL, PASTERNAK, PASQUALI, POSSMAN, PASOWITZ, PASOWSKI, PASMAN, and PASSMAN as variants of the same name, from the Yiddish word meaning "belt, girdle, strip, strap, or line", and frequently belonged to ethnic Germans who migrated to Russia, Latvia, Estonia, Belorus and Lithuania. Add the suffix "owitz" or "ski" to any of them in Poland and you have a couple of the Slavic equivalents. In his volume on the Kingdom of Poland at p. 339, he finds the same PAS surname plus PASOWSKI commonly in the districts of Konskie, Sandomierz, Jedrzejow, and Warsaw.
In the early 20th century, this surname was particularly concentrated around Dvinsk Latvia. (Page 443.) In the magazine AVOTAYNU, he advertizes that for a small sum of money, he will send the incidence of surnames from the voting lists to the requester, but only for certain districts, and I do not recall if these are the districts. So you might be able to discover the given names of the PAS and PASS folks in, say, 1907, that way. Men over 21 only, of course.
Some PASS lines are related to the Germans who were imported in the late 1600 and early 1700s, rather than the Irish. One of the great problems with genealogy is that nothing stays where you think it should. There are Jews with non-Jewish names, and Christians with Jewish names. The fact is that relatively few names were originally one or the other, and those that were have managed to get mixed up by conversions and intermarriages. Given names are an even less reliable guide, as many fundamentalist Protestants named their children for Old Testament characters. However, my recollection is that Jews were not officially allowed to reside in England from 1290 to 1650, Cromwell having changed the rules. So I would not think that there would be very many of them there by 1702, and I would suspect that most of them came from Spain to France, then crossed the channel with the Huguenots when Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, which I believe was in the 1670s. Some who fled France at that time when to Holland, then came to England with William and Mary in 1688 or just after."
Anyway, the year (1230) that "Pass" first appears in the Pipe Rolls of Nottinghamshire (see above) is 60 years prior to the date that the Jews were "officially" allowed to reside in England (1290) by Cromwell. "Pace" appears twelve years after this date and "Pash" twenty-three years after it. We all know that people immigrate places "unofficially", and at that time I doubt there were records kept of who came into the country from abroad. A huge leap of logic then suggests (I'm assuming here, okay????) that it is possible that the name was originally Jewish and that some of those living "unofficially" in England with this name converted to Christianity. Sixty years could easily comprise at least three generations (and twenty-three would allow at least one, while twelve is a much slimmer margin) and perhaps these were therefore allowed to remain in England while their Jewish cousins were not. This also might account for the further spread of (at least) the surname Pass to other countries where they were forced to go. I know this is not a very "scientific" method of discovery, but it does fit with the history of the time and is a logical possibility of why this surname suddenly appears in England at this time.
Interestingly enough, the surname "de Pass" (which is probably French Huguenot in origin) also has survived in England. One prominent "de Pass" in England is Commander Robert de Pass (of the Royal Navy), whose wife Phillipa is an extra lady of the bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth II. As an added point of interest, she is simply listed as Mrs. Pass in official records. I wonder why. Their names appears in Diana's autobiography as written by Andrew Morton. In this book, their son Philip was said to have been prominent in the match-making between Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. I have done wild-card searches for e-mail addresses on the surname Pass in Yahoo and have found several all over the world. Perhaps you might find that the same thing would be possible with the surname Pace. It is all very interesting. I hope this all has been of some help Gord.
Happy Ancestor hunting
dbayham@bfree.on.ca (519) 448-1154