Hase Family History

German: nickname for a swift runner or a timorous person, from Middle High German, Middle Low German hase ‘hare’. Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Hase ‘hare’. English: from a Middle English nickname, Hase, from Old English has ‘harsh, raucous, or hoarse voice’. Japanese: usually written with characters meaning ‘long valley’; habitational name from a place in Yamato (now Nara prefecture). Listed in the Shinsen shojiroku. Some bearers are descended from the Taira clan; they are found mainly in eastern Japan. Also pronounced Nagaya and Nagatani; the original pronunciation was Hatsuse, meaning ‘beginning of the strait’.

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press