STARTIN
Startin is a surname of English origin, first recorded in the mid‑twelfth century in the Pipe Rolls of Warwickshire under the spelling Stauerton. The name has survived into the present day, although it is comparatively rare in contemporary census data.
One widely recorded theory regards Startin as a locational surname deriving from the village of Stareton in Warwickshire. The place name translates as “the farm or settlement (tun) surrounded by stakes (staefer)”, which implies a defended or fenced settlement in an area where such fortifications were uncommon. Early examples of the surname include a Margaret Startin recorded in the parish of Wesperton in 1589 and a William Startin mentioned in London registers in 1789.
An alternative locational explanation posits that Startin is a variant of Sturton, the name of a village in England. According to this view, the surname originally signified “of Sturton”, indicating that a bearer had migrated from that place and retained the locational identifier as an alias.
Other records describe Startin as an occupational surname derived from the Old English word styrte, a steward or steward‑man. In this interpretation the name would have been attributed to someone who held a stewardly office in a lord’s or king’s household.
Yet another derivation quoted in contemporary sources suggests that the name stems from the Old English verb stertan, meaning “to jump” or “to leap”. The name would thus have arisen as a nickname for an individual noted for agility or quickness, before later becoming inherited as a family name.
The earliest documented instance of the surname is believed to be that of Leonard Startaine, christened at St Mary Magdalene, Bermondsey, London, on 26 January 1560. Subsequent records bring the name into the Leicestershire area in the mid‑nineteenth century, and later into other English counties such as Coventry, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Herefordshire. The surname also appears in records from Canada, the United States, the Bahamas and South Africa, a distribution pattern that reflects historic migration.
In the United States the first known entry of a family bearing the Startin name dates to 1799 in Connecticut. Over the centuries the surname has remained uncommon, though a modest increase in prevalence has been noted in the United States from the nineteenth century onward. There are no widely recognised contemporary lineages or prominent figures recorded under the name beyond the few historical mentions in the passage above.
Typical given names associated with the Startin surname
Male
- Andrew
- Brian
- David
- James
- John
- Matthew
- Paul
- Philip
- Richard
- Robert
- Rolf
- Terence
Female
- Helen
- Jean
- Jessica
- Mary
- Naomi
- Natalie
- Nicola
- Patricia
- Susan
- Vanya
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Startin in...
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There are approximately 619 people named Startin in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around ten in a million people in Britain are named Startin.
