Hademar

Male
DWP
4 of 5

Discussion of the name

The name is here normalized in a Continental Germanic form Hademar but in some or all instances may be the equivalent Old English name Heathumær, which comprised the elements heaðu ‘war, battle’ and mære ‘famous, great’.

Von Feilitzen regarded the DB and Exon spellings (while noting the loss of intervocalic ð in some forms) as more likely to represent CG Hademar than OE Heathumær, which he regarded as less likely because of its rarity (von Feilitzen 1937: 102, 281-2). Yet von Feilitzen conceded that a ‘native post-Conquest example’ of the OE name probably underlay the form Haiðemær found in the Exeter guild-lists (Exeter, Cathedral Library, MS 3501 (The Exeter Book), fo 7r-v), which he thought dated from c.1100-1130 but which are in fact far more likely to be from the 1080s and thus closely contemporary to Domesday Book. Given that the only TRE examples are also from south-western England then the possibility that these too represented OE Heathumær was perhaps greater than von Feilitzen allowed.

In either case, both the continental and insular forms of the name were very rare in England, although the element heaðu, hade occurs in other names and the second element mære, mar is common. There are no individuals called either Hademar or Heathumær recorded from before the Conquest in the PASE corpus. Searle (1897: 287) and Insley et al. (2007: 125) note only two insular examples other than those discussed here – one from the Durham Liber Vitæ and the other inferred from a Kentish place-name – although the DB form Haimerus recorded for a 1086 subtenant in Norfolk should also be noted. What little evidence there is, therefore, suggests that although rare the name was geographically widespread.

Bibliography

von Feilitzen 1937: O. von Feilitzen, The Pre-Conquest Personal Names of Domesday Book, Nomina Germanica 3 (Uppsala, 1937)

Insley et al. 2007: J. Insley and D. Rollason with P. McClure, ‘A.3 English dithematic names’, in ed. D. and L. Rollason, The Durham Liber Vitae: Volume II (London, 2007), 81-165

Searle 1897: W. G. Searle, Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum (Cambridge, 1897)

Forms of the name

Spelling in Domesday Book: Hademar, Hadimarus, Haemar, Haimerus

Spellings in Exon DB: Hadimarus, Haemarus, Haimerus

Forms in modern scholarship:

  von Feilitzen head form: Hademar

  Phillimore edition: Hademar, Haemar

  Alecto edition: Hademar, Haimer

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
Cornwall 5,23,5 Perranuthnoe Hæmar Hademar 'of Perranuthnoe' - Robert, count of Mortain Beohtric 'of Lesnewth' 1.00 1.50 0.50 D Map
Devon 15,18 Stockleigh Haimerus Hademar 'of Stockleigh' Eadmær Ator Robert, count of Mortain Alfred the butler 1.00 2.00 1.50 B Map
Devon 15,2 Stochelie Hadimarus Hademar 'of Stockleigh' - Robert, count of Mortain - 0.25 0.25 0.50 B Map
Devon 15,60 Chitterley Hademar Hademar 'of Stockleigh' - Robert, count of Mortain Alfred the butler 0.75 1.50 2.00 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
Norfolk 4,33 Taverham Haimerus Thorbert 'of Taverham' - Alan, count Hademar 'of Taverham' 1.00 1.00 1.00 - Map
Totals