Truss

Recorded in several forms including Truss, Trusse, Trussler, Trusslove, Trusslowe, Trussman, Truce and Truse, this unusual and interesting name is of early medieval English and possibly French origins. It is an occupational surname either for maker of harness, a courier or contractor, one who carried parcels or bundles, or possibly for a professional hunter of wild animals! It is said to derive from the pre 7th century Old French verb "trousser" meaning to truss or bind, and was and sometimes still is, recorded with a suffix such as -man meaning a bagman, or -love, meaning a bondsman from the Scandanavian word 'lof', or as a short form of the medieval and probably extinct surname Trussharness, first recorded in the year 1281, when Agaes Trussharness is given as being an oastler in London. The surname development includes: Robert Truss of Suffolk in the year 1202, Nicholas Trusselove of Sussex in 1296, and Thomas Truslowe of Wiltshire in 1524. Later recordings from surviving church registers include the marriage of Henry Trussler and Alice Leliet at Aldingbourne, Sussex, on June 22nd 1559, and the marriage of Anne Truse and John Hopwood at St Mary Mounthaw in the city of London, on April 16th 1648. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.