STROTHER
Strother is an English surname of both occupational and locational provenance, first recorded in the British Isles and now most frequently associated with the United States.
The earliest known derivation is from the Old English word strōðere, meaning “a stretcher” or “a stretcher‑bearer.” The name was originally given to those who carried a litter or stretcher for the wounded or infirm, reflecting a respectable occupation in medieval society.
Alternatively, the surname may be topographical, describing a person who lived by marshy ground overgrown with brushwood. This theory derives from the Old English strod and the Middle English strother, both of which denote damp land. It may also be locational, relating to villages named with the element strother or similar forms: for example Strother in Northumberland, Struther in Lanarkshire, and Struthers in Fife, Scotland. The ancient family of Strothers are recorded as lords of the manor of Kirk‑Newton in the barony of Wark‑on‑the‑Tweed, Northumberland, an association noted in early English land documents.
Documentary evidence of the surname dates back to 1555, when a witness named John Strwtheris signed a record at Glasgow during the reign of Queen Mary of Scotland. In 1808 a coat of arms was granted to a Strother family of Calderbank, County Lanark, with the blazon: a silver shield, three blue piles issuing from the base; in chief an eagle’s head erased proper between two black fleur‑de‑lis, signifying victory over the French. The crest consists of a black martlet.
In contemporary times the surname is extremely uncommon in the United Kingdom, with only about sixty bearers recorded. The name is considerably more frequent in the United States, particularly in the Southern states, where it is ranked 41st in North Carolina and 32nd in Georgia. More than eight thousand individuals in the United States carry the name, and it also exists, albeit rarely, in Canada, Australia, and Scotland.
Several orthographic variants of Strother are documented. They include Strothers, Stroder, and Struther in the British Isles, Strowther in the United States, and Struthers and Struders in Scotland and Ireland. Germanic variants such as Strothar appear among families of German descent in Germany and the German‑heritage areas of the United States, while Struthor and Strether are occasionally used by people with German or Midwestern American affiliations.
Typical given names associated with the Strother surname
Male
- Christopher
- David
- Gary
- Graham
- Gregory
- Iain
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Philip
- Warren
Female
- Amanda
- Belinda
- Carole
- Catherine
- Christine
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Jean
- Julia
- Julie
- Margaret
- Sheila
- Susan
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 Strother in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 210 people named Strother in the UK. That makes it one of Britain's least common surnames. Only around three in a million people in Britain are named Strother.
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
