BEST

BEST. BESTE. This name has probably no connection with the adjective. In the H. R. it occurs as Le Beste, ' the beast,' a sobricjuet ; but there is one well-authenticated instance, in which it is a corruption of the Norman Basset. Inf. Stacey Grimaldi, Esq., F.S.A.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.