The first urban core of the city settled in the 6th century on a hill called ‘Podium Grassum’ (Grand Puy, or ‘great hill’) in Roman times, which may have given Grasse its name. In the Middle Ages, the Latin terminology is simplified, declined into “grassa” for the classical form and “grasso” in Provencal Occitan language before becoming Grasse. The De Grasse surname first appeared in 1040 when Guillaume Gauceran, Prince of Antibes, signed a charter as 'Guillelmus de Grassa'.