Recorded as Start, Starte, Stert, Sturt, Sturte and Sterte, this is an English surname. It is either locational from any of the various places named from Old English pre 7th century word "steurt" meaning a promontory as for example Start Point in Devonshire, or the village of Stert in Somerset. This latter place is recorded as "Esturt" in the famous Domesday Book for the county in the year 1086, or the surname may be topographical. If the latter it describes a person who lived by a promontory or the spur of a hill. The surname is first recorded towards the end of the 12th Century (see below), and early examples include those of Walter de la Sterte. He was a witness at the Assize Court for Somerset in the year 1225, whilst in 1332 John ate Sturte is recorded in the Subsidy Tax Rolls for the county of Surrey. On July 4th 1540, William Start married Katherine Browne at the church of St. Marylebone in the city of London, whilst George Starte was christened on September 10th 1605 at St. James, Clerkenwell. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger de Lesturte. This was dated 1168, in the Pipe Rolls of Devonshire, during the reign of King Henry 11nd of England, 1154 - 1189. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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