Fader

Male
CPL
4 of 5

Discussion of the name

Fader is a masculine name of Scandinavian origin, usually normalized as ODan Fathir (von Feilitzen 1937: 250). Apart from one blundered form (Fradre), DB always used the spelling Fader, which accords with how the name is given in twelfth-century sources (e.g. Fellows Jensen 1968: 79; FBB: pp. 145–6 no. 60; Insley 1994: 120–1; Pleas, 1198–1212: III, no. 440; IV, no. 3162) and was clearly already the form that the name took in the late eleventh century. The name was coined from the common ODan noun faðir (‘father’), adopted initially as a byname in Viking Age Denmark and later used as an ordinary personal name. Although taken up in both Sweden and England, it was never used in Norway or Iceland (Insley 1994: 120–1). In DB the name was confined to East Anglia. The only possible earlier instance in England seems to be the housecarl Feader who was murdered while collecting taxes in Worcester in 1041 (JW: II, 532–3).

Bibliography

FBB: ‘The Feudal Book of Baldwin, abbot of Bury St. Edmunds, 1065–1098, contained in the Black Book of the abbey, MS. Mm. iv. 19, fols. 124–43b. (Cambridge University Library)’, in Feudal Documents from the Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds, ed. D. C. Douglas, British Academy Records of the Social and Economic History of England and Wales, 8 (London: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1932), 1–44

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

Insley 1994: John Insley, Scandinavian Personal Names in Norfolk: A Survey based on Medieval Records and Place-Names, Acta Academiae Regiae Gustavi Adolphi 62 (Uppsala, 1994)

JW: The Chronicle of John of Worcester, ed. and trans. R. R. Darlington, P. McGurk, and Jennifer Bray, II and III (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995–8)

Pleas, 1198–1212: Pleas before the King or his Justices, 1198–1212, ed. Doris Mary Stenton, 4 vols, Selden Society 67–8 and 83–4 (for 1948, 1949, 1966, and 1967)

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: Fader; Fradre

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head forms: Fathir, Fadhir

  Phillimore edition: Fathir

  Alecto edition: Fathir

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
Norfolk 19,11 Wilby - Fader 'of Wilby', free man - William d'Écouis - 0.08 0.15 0.15 E Map
Norfolk 19,11 Wilby Fader Fader 'of Wilby', free man - William d'Écouis - 2.00 2.00 3.00 E Map
Norfolk 19,13 Banham - Fader 'of Wilby', free man - William d'Écouis - 0.25 1.10 1.10 E Map
Norfolk 19,13 Banham Fader Fader 'of Wilby', free man - William d'Écouis Odard 'of Banham' 2.00 2.00 2.50 E Map
Norfolk 20,2 Great Bircham Fradre Fader 'of Lexham', king's thegn Edward, king Ralph de Beaufour - 3.00 2.50 1.00 E Map
Norfolk 20,8 Lexham Fader Fader 'of Lexham', king's thegn - Ralph de Beaufour Richard de Saint-Clair 3.50 2.00 3.00 E Map
Norfolk 20,8 Lexham - Fader 'of Lexham', king's thegn - Ralph de Beaufour Richard de Saint-Clair 0.25 0.07 0.07 E Map
Suffolk 25,24 Cotton Fader Fader 'of Cotton' - Richard fitzGilbert Walter the deacon 0.06 0.06 0.06 B Map
Totals

Lord 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
Norfolk 19,11 Wilby - 12 sokemen Fader William d'Écouis - 0.33 0.00 0.00 E Map
Norfolk 19,13 Banham - 16 sokemen Fader William d'Écouis - 0.20 0.00 0.00 E Map
Norfolk 20,2 Great Bircham - 2 free men Fader Ralph de Beaufour - 0.02 0.00 0.00 E Map
Norfolk 20,8 Lexham - 6 sokemen Fader Ralph de Beaufour Richard de Saint-Clair 0.50 0.00 0.00 E Map
Totals