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Styrcar

Discussion of the name

Styrcar is a masculine name of Scandinavian origin (normalized in ON as Styrkárr) formed from the first element styrr (‘tumult, uproar’) and a second element which may be *kárr (‘curly-haired’). The name is well represented in Denmark and other parts of Scandinavia (Fellows Jensen 1968: 268). Its first appearance in England is as the name of a Danish jarl (dux) who was with Æthelstan’s court in Sussex and Wessex in April 930 (Styrcer 1). There were moneyers of the name at Leicester and York in the later tenth century and at York and Cambridge in the earlier eleventh (Styrcar 1–5), as well as two men in the Peterborough district in the 980s (Styrcyr 1–2). The name was also used in Normandy (Adigard des Gautries 1954: 416).

The name appears in a variety of spellings in DB. Björkmann (1910: 132) appears to have recognized them as the same name, but von Feilitzen divided them up strictly according to spelling, and as a result failed to acknowledge the possibility that they were related. Thus he assigned the spellings Starcherus, Starker, and Estarcher to a CG name Starcher, Stergar to ON Styrgeirr, and only Stercher, with some hesitation, to ON Styrkárr. He acknowledged the possibility (following Björkmann) that Sercar was an error for Stercar and thus also represented Styrkárr (von Feilitzen 1937: 357, 373, 377).

There are, however, good grounds for thinking that all six DB spellings stood for the same name, and that the name was Styrcar. First, Sercar is clearly a miscopying of Stercar, since the estate in question is only 10 miles from that assigned to Stercher, and passed to the same Norman. Secondly, as to the supposed CG name Starcher, von Feilitzen was always inclined to grasp for CG names to explain DB spellings which are better understood as Scandinavian, here relying on the ending –er. In reality there is no independent evidence that the CG name was used in Anglo-Saxon England, whereas Styrcar certainly appears with the spellings stircer and stircar for the same York moneyer active in the early years of Cnut’s reign (Styrcar 4). Thirdly, ON Styrgeirr is not on independent record, and spellings of Styrcar in –g– are also found on the coins (Styrcar 3, Styrcar 5). Finally it is more likely than not that all the DB entries discussed here in fact referred to the same person, Styrcar 10.

Bibliography

Adigard des Gautries 1954: Jean Adigard des Gautries, Les noms de personnes scandinaves en Normandie de 911 à 1066, Nomina Germanica 11 (Lund: Carl Bloms, 1954)

Björkman 1910: Erik Björkman, Nordische Personennamen in England in alt- und frühmittel-englischer Zeit, Studien zur englischen Philologie 37 (Halle an der Saale, 1910; reprinted Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1973)

Fellows Jensen 1968: Gillian Fellows Jensen, Scandinavian Personal Names in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire (Copenhagen: I Kommission hos Akademisk Forlag, 1968)

von Feilitzen 1937: Olof von Feilitzen, The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book, Nomina Germanica 3 (Uppsala: Almqvist and Wiksells, 1937)

Forms of the name

Spellings in Domesday Book: Estarcher, Sercar, Starcherus, Starker, Stercher, Stergar

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Sercar; CG Starcher; ON *Styrgeirr; ON Styrkárr

  Phillimore edition: Starker (Beds., Essex, Suff., Surr.), Stergar (Norf.)

  Alecto edition: Starcher (Beds., Essex, Suff.), Starher (Surr.), Styrger (Norf.)

Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

Holder 1066

Shire	Phil. ref.	Vill	DB Spelling	Holder 1066	Lord 1066	Tenant-in-Chief 1086	1086 Subtenant	Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value	Conf.	Show on Map
Shire Bedfordshire	Phil. ref. 1,1b	Vill Leighton Buzzard	DB Spelling Starcherus	Holder 1066 Styrcar, housecarl of King Edward	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 William, king	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 7.00	1066 Value 4.15	1086 Value 4.15	Confidence B	Map
Shire Essex	Phil. ref. 41,12	Vill Tolleshunt Major	DB Spelling Sercar	Holder 1066 Styrcar, housecarl of King Edward	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert fitzCorbucion	1086 Subtenant Mauger 'of Tolleshunt'	Fiscal Value 1.00	1066 Value 4.00	1086 Value 2.00	Confidence D	Map
Shire Essex	Phil. ref. 41,9	Vill Bensted	DB Spelling Stercher	Holder 1066 Styrcar, housecarl of King Edward	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert fitzCorbucion	1086 Subtenant Nigel 'the man of Robert fitzCorbucion'	Fiscal Value 3.50	1066 Value 2.00	1086 Value 2.50	Confidence D	Map
Shire Norfolk	Phil. ref. 49,7	Vill Saxlingham	DB Spelling Stergar	Holder 1066 Styrcar, housecarl of King Edward	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 John nephew of Waleran	1086 Subtenant -	Fiscal Value 0.25	1066 Value 1.00	1086 Value 0.65	Confidence A	Map
Shire Suffolk	Phil. ref. 40,2	Vill Somerton	DB Spelling Starker	Holder 1066 Styrcar, housecarl of King Edward	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Robert fitzCorbucion	1086 Subtenant Roger 'of Somerton'	Fiscal Value 1.00	1066 Value 1.50	1086 Value 2.00	Confidence D	Map
Shire Surrey	Phil. ref. 19,10	Vill Tooting Bec	DB Spelling Estarcher	Holder 1066 Styrcar, housecarl of King Edward	Lord 1066 Edward, king	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Richard fitzGilbert	1086 Subtenant Anselm, abbot of Bec	Fiscal Value 11.00	1066 Value 5.00	1086 Value 5.00	Confidence E	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

People of this name

• Styrcar 10 - Styrcar housecarl of King Edward, fl. 1066