Family name origins & meanings
- French : from Old French chausse ‘footwear’ or ‘leggings’ (Late Latin calcia, for classical Latin calceus ‘sandal’, ‘shoe’), hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker of shoes or leggings, or a nickname for a wearer of distinctive ones. In medieval Europe this term was used very widely, and denoted boots, shoes, leggings, leg armor, gaiters, hose, breeches, pantaloons, and so on; its modern descendants include French chaussures ‘shoes’ and chaussettes ‘socks’.
- French : from the same root as above, the past participle chaussé, designating, in a rural area, a person distinctive in wearing leggings when bare legs were more common.