Scarse

Scarse
Recorded in the spellings of Scarce and occasionally Scarse, this is an English surname. It probably owes something to the pre 8th century Norse-Viking word 'scarfs', meaning a vicious sea bird, and specifically a cormorant! Quite why anybody should be named after a cormorant is unclear, but it is true that the Vikings, as brave and agressive seafarers, would certainly have recognized and rewarded similar traits in others. Our view is that the name was a nickname of honour, given to a renowned sailor,and that it was complimentary. The medieval period was time before surnames when nicknames were all the rage. It was also a time of robust humour, as can be shown by a brief study of the works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Another possible origin for the name is that it is locational and if so possibly from a small group of islands in the Solway Firth known as 'The Scares'. However we have no evidence in any record of these islands producinga surname, but it is possible. The last possibility is that the surname originated from a now 'lost' medieval village. Some five thousand British surnames do have this source, so whilst unusual it is by no means unique. Examples of the surname recordings taken from surviving church registers of the diocese of Greater London include: Mary Scarce at St Johns Clerkenwell, on August 4th 1622, and Henry Willam Scarce, the son of John and Matilda Scarce, christened at St Thomas's Finsbury, on June 7th 1863.

Surnames reference. 2013.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • scarse — scars(e, scarsement obs. ff. scarce, ment …   Useful english dictionary

  • Communist Party of Thailand — The Communist Party of Thailand CPT (Thai: พรรคคอมมิวนิสต์แห่งประเทศไทย, abbreviated พคท.) was a Marxist Leninist, Communist political party in Thailand, active from 1942 until the 1990s. Initially known as Communist Party of Siam the party was… …   Wikipedia

  • inetto — /i nɛt:o/ [dal lat. ineptus, der. di aptus adatto , col pref. in in 2 ]. ■ agg. 1. [che non ha attitudine per determinati compiti, con la prep. a : essere i. al comando ] ▶◀ inadatto, inadeguato, incapace (di), inidoneo, (fam.) negato (per).… …   Enciclopedia Italiana

  • Budva — Infobox Montenegro city name=Budva city name cyr=Будва mayor=Rajko Kuljača (DPS SDP) area =122 population=10,918 municipality=15,909 density=130.4 p/km² settlements=33 founded=5th Century B.C. latitude=42.28 longitude=18.83| latd=42 latm=17… …   Wikipedia

  • Lupita D'Alessio — (born Guadalupe Contreras Ramos on March 10, 1954 in Tijuana, Baja California) is a Mexican singer and actress. She is nicknamed La Leona Dormida (a title of one of her songs which translates to The sleeping lioness ) because of the constant… …   Wikipedia

  • Base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva — is the most important Antarctic base of Chile and one of the most important ones in Antarctica. It is located at Fildes Peninsula, an ice free area, in front of Fildes Bay (Maxwell Bay), west of King George Island, South Shetland Islands.… …   Wikipedia

  • Yemelyan Danilov — ( ru. Емельян Данилов) (1627 1654) was a Russian bellmaker.Yemelyan Danilov was born to a famous family of Muscovite bellmakers, the progenitor of which was Danila Matveyev. The latter was an apprentice to Kirill Samoylov, who, in turn, had once… …   Wikipedia

  • Aryeh Kasher — (Hebrew: אריה כשר) (born 1935) is an emeritus professor at Tel Aviv University and a winner of the Bialik Prize. Contents 1 His life and his research activity 2 Awards 3 His books …   Wikipedia

  • Heinz Waaske — Infobox Person name = Heinz Waaske image size = caption = Heinz Waaske on the 10 June 1995 birth name = birth date = 1924 birth place = Berlin death date = 1995 death place = Braunschweig death cause = resting place = resting place coordinates =… …   Wikipedia

  • J. C. Daniel — Vigathakumaran redirects here. This article has details about the film. Infobox actor name = J. C. Daniel caption = birthname = birthdate = 19 April 1893 birthplace = Agasthishwaram, Nagercoil, Travancore (Now in Tamilnadu) deathdate = May 1975… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”