Elgar

This unusual and interesting name is one of the variant forms of the surname created from the Middle English personal name "Alger". The name is a result of the "falling together" of several names of different origins, Old English and Germanic, introduced by the Normans. The final element of all of them is "gar, ger", a spear, while the first element is usually "alb", elf or "adal", noble, or "ald", old, resulting in such names as "Aelfgar" (elf-spear), "Aethelgar" (nobel-spear) and "Ealdgar" (old-spear). The modern surname can be found in a number of variant forms, ranging from Algar, Algore and Algy to Elgar, Elgee and Elgy. John Elgee was christened in London in 1667 and one William Elgy was christened at All Souls, Marylebone, on June 27th 1852. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Elger, which was dated 1271, in the "Ancient Deeds of Norfolk", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.