This interesting name can be locational from St. Blazey in Cornwall, but was originally a personal name which derived from St. Blaise, an early 5th Century martyr and the patron saint of the textile wool-combers. It seems that up to late Victorian times there was a festival held in Yorkshire on February 3rd in commemoration. The early recordings before the 18th Century as surnames are rare but today the name spellings are Blaze, Blazey, Blazy, Blease, Bleese, Bleas and Blaze. An example is Mary Bleeze who married Joseph Tucker at St. Georges, Hanover Square, London in 1744. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of James Blase (son of Andrew), which was dated 1605, baptised at St. James, Clerkenwell, during the reign of King James 1 of England and V1 of Scotland, 1603-1625. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.