Frequency: (524)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. German and Jewish (Ashkenazic): from Middle High German faz, German Fass ‘cask’, ‘keg’, hence a metonymic occupational name for a maker or seller of casks and kegs, or a nickname for someone as rotund as a barrel.
2. German: variant of Fasse, Faas.
GIVEN NAMES: Jewish 6%. Shimon (2), Aron, Hyman, Malca, Meyer, Shira, Sol, Yehudis.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
