Varker

This rare and interesting name is of Cornish origin, and is one of the diminutive or "pet" forms of the Cornish male personal name Margh, in Old Cornish "Marh", and Old Welsh "March"; these are Celtic forms of Mark, from the Latin "Marcus". The surnames Varker, Varcoe and Vercoe all show the typically Cornish initial mutation (known as a "soft mutation") of "M" to "V", as seen in the familiar name Treveor, from "tre", homestead, and "mur", great, mutated to "vur, veor". Marcus was an old Roman name, thought to be derived from the name of the Roman god of war, Mars. The personal name Mark was not as popular in England as in the rest of Europe during the Middle Ages, where St. Mark the Evangelist became the patron saint of Venice, but is recorded as "Marke" in Hampshire in 1207, and as "Marc" in London in 1292. The surname Varcoe and its variant forms have the peculiarly Cornish hypocoristic suffix "-oe, -ow", also seen in the more familiar surname Pascoe, from the medieval given name "Pask". The surname development in Cornwall has included the following examples: Verkoe (1610); Varcowe (1610); Vircoe (1669); Varcko (1685); and Varcar (1690). Joces, daughter of Gorge Varker, was christened at Tywardreath, Cornwall, on February 19th 1617. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Varcow, which was dated June 30th 1582, christened at St. Ewe, Cornwall, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. 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.