Moss History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Moss is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having lived near a peat bog. The name comes from the Old English word mos, which denoted a peat bog. The name may have been taken on as a hereditary surname by someone who lived near a peat bog. However, there are also place names that have come from this word, and the surname may have come from a pre-existing name for a town, village, or parish. Other instances of this surname may also have evolved from the personal name, Moses; and there was also an Ashkenazic Jewish name of uncertain origins that has evolved into Moss. Alternatively, the name could have an ancient Norman surname derived from “Godefridus de la Mosce, Normandy, [who] held a fief from Philip Augustus of the honour or Malherbe.” 1

Early Origins of the Moss family

The surname Moss was first found in Lancashire at Chat Moss, a large area of peat bog near the City of Salford, in Greater Manchester. 2

Alternatively, the name could have derived from Moss, a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire. One of the earliest records of the name was Ailmerus filius Mosse or Almer Mosse who was listed in Norfolk 1153-1168. 3

Later, the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 listed Henry Mosse, as holding lands in Lincolnshire at that time. The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Robertus de Mos and Johannes del Mosse. 4

At about the same time, further north in Scotland, Gregory de Moss was tenant of the Earl of Douglas in Louchurde, 1376. 5