Edgar

Male
DWP
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Discussion of the name

Edgar is the modern form of the Old English masculine name Eadgar comprising the elements ēad ‘prosperity, happiness’ and gār ‘spear’; it is adopted as the head-form here because it is the form that most users will be familiar with.

There are 29 entries in the PASE corpus for Edgar, dating from the late seventh century onwards and of whom the most famous is Edgar 11, king of the English 959-975 (and to whom the IE form Ædgari refers). Those occurring in or after the mid-eleventh century comprise Edgar 14 Ætheling (see below); Edgar 16, a brother at Chertsey in 1077; Edgar 17, a catch-all for occurrences in DB; and two moneyers, Edgar 18 who was active at Berkley 1046-56 and Edgar 26 who was active in London in 1065-6. In addition, there are sixteen instances in the ninth-to early-eleventh-century sections of the Durham Liber Vitae (and a further three in the twelfth-century entries) and an Edgarus Roc occurs in a list of those paying church-scot at Halling, Glos., in the 1050s (Insley et al. 2007: 105; Royce 1892: 220).

Bibliography

Insley et al. 2007: J. Insley and D. Rollason with P. McClure, ‘A.3 English Dithematic Names’, in The Durham Liber Vitae. London, British Library, MS Cotton Domitian A.VII: Edition and Digital Facsimile with Introduction, Codicological, Prosopographical and Linguistic Commentary, and Indexes, ed. D. W. Rollason and L. Rollason, 3 vols. (London: British Library, 2007), ii, 81–165

Royce 1892: Registrum Monasterii Beatae Mariae Virginis et Sancti Cénhelmi de Winchelcumba, ed. D. Royce (Exeter, 1892)

Forms of the name

Spellings in Domesday Book: Edgar(us), Etgar(us)

IE: Ædgari

FBB: Ædgar, Ædger

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Ēadgār

  Phillimore edition: Edgar

  Alecto edition: Edgar

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
Huntingdonshire 11,1 Upton Edgar Edgar 'of Upton' - Hugh, earl Fulcwig 'of Upton' 4.00 4.00 5.00 B Map
Huntingdonshire 11,2 Coppingford Edgar Edgar 'of Upton' - Hugh, earl Humphrey 'of the Cotentin' 4.00 4.00 4.00 B Map
Totals

Tenant-in-Chief 1086 demesne estates (no subtenants)

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
Wiltshire 67,52 Deverill Edgar Ælfgar 'of Sherrington' - Edgar the priest - 0.50 0.60 0.60 B Map
Totals

Subtenant in 1086

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
Wiltshire 1,11 Poulshot Edgar unnamed father of Edgar - William, king Edgar 'of Poulshot' 0.00 0.25 0.25 - Map
Totals

Tenant-in-Chief 1086 subtenanted estates

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
Hertfordshire 38,1 Barkway Edgarus 2 sokemen Esgar the staller Edgar Ætheling Godwine 'of Hormead' 1.50 2.00 2.00 A Map
Hertfordshire 38,2 Hormead Edgarus Alnoth Grut Stigand, archbishop of Canterbury Edgar Ætheling Godwine 'of Hormead' 1.50 2.67 1.78 A Map
Hertfordshire 38,2 Hormead Edgarus 7 sokemen Edward, king Edgar Ætheling Godwine 'of Hormead' 3.25 5.78 3.85 A Map
Hertfordshire 38,2 Hormead Edgarus Alweard 'of Hormead' Almær of Bennington Edgar Ætheling Godwine 'of Hormead' 1.00 1.78 1.19 A Map
Hertfordshire 38,2 Hormead Edgarus Wulfwine 'of Hormead' Esgar the staller Edgar Ætheling Godwine 'of Hormead' 1.00 1.78 1.19 A Map
Totals