English: from a Middle English personal name, Ailric, Alrich, Aldrich, etc. (Many different forms are recorded.) It represents the coalescence of at least two Old English personal names, Ælfric ‘elf ruler’ and Æ{dh}elric ‘noble ruler’.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names ©2013, Oxford University Press
Tag: ancestry
settlement, village, dwelling
wick, bay
IPA: /wiːk/; Gender: feminine; Type: noun;
wick, bay
settlement, village, dwelling
Aldridge is a town and civil parish in the Walsall Borough, West Midlands, England. Historically a village that was part of Staffordshire until 1974.
It is 3 miles (4.8 km) from Brownhills, 5 miles (8 km) north east of Walsall, 6 miles (9.7 km) from Sutton Coldfield and 7 miles (11 km) from Lichfield. Aldridge has a mixture of social and private housing, there is a large 1960s built shopping centre which has fairly high occupation rates, and many industrial estates supporting both heavy and light industries.
See the Aldrich surname, family crest & coat of arms. Free Search. Uncover the Aldrich surname history for the English Origin. What is the history of the last name Aldrich?
The many generations and branches of the Aldrich family can all place the origins of their surname with the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture. Their name reveals that an early member worked as a the Old English personal name Aldrich, meaning old ruler, and refers to "a son of Aldrich." [1]
Early Origins of the Aldrich family
The surname Aldrich was first found in the counties of Sussex, Suffolk, and Surrey, where the Aldrich family held a family seat from very early times. The family had the Saxon spellings of Alderich, Ealdric, or possibly Aelfric before the Conquest.
Aldridge is a town in Staffordshire (now the West Midlands) that dates back to the Domesday Book where it was listed as Alrewic and literally means "dwelling or farm among alders" having derived from the Old English word alor + wic. [2]
The parish was originally in the union of Walsall, in the hundred of Offlow, comprised 7,752 acres and was anciently held by Robert, a tenant of William fitzAnsculf and was worth 15 shillings. [3]
Early History of the Aldrich family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Aldrich research. Another 34 words (2 lines of text) covering the years 1647, 1710, 1566 and 1507 are included under the topic Early Aldrich History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Aldrich Spelling Variations
Before the last few hundred years, the English language had no fast system of spelling rules. For that reason, spelling variations are commonly found in early Anglo-Saxon surnames. Over the years, many variations of the name Aldrich were recorded, including Aldridge, Aldrich, Alderich, Alderidge, Eldrich, Elderidge, Elderich and many more.
This interesting name is derived either from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal compound name "Aedelric". or the later town of Aldridge in Staffordshire, or Aldridge Grove in Buckingham, or from some 'lost' medieval village known to have existed near Worcester. The original personal name was composed of the elements 'adel' meaning noble and 'ric'- a ruler (noble ruler), and it is hardly surprising that in ancient times it was one of the most popular given names. This affection was transferred into the later 12th century surnames, although how many originate from the name and how many from former residence at one of the places so-called is not very unclear. The place names do derive from the Old English 'ale-wic', translating as 'the farm (wic) amongst the alder trees', and the Staffordshire town, then a single farm, is also recorded inthe Domesday Book. It is not clear as to precisely how many surnames have been created from the various sources, but they certainly include Aldrich, Aldrick, Aldridge, Alldridge, Allderidge, Elderidge, Eldridge, Elrick, Oldridge, and the dialectally transposed 'Arlidge'. The name, as a given name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 in the spellings of Ailred, Aldret and Eldred, whilst early examples of the surname include Richardus Alurici, in the charters of Warwickshire in the year 1209, Robert Alrych in the former county of Huntingdonshire in 1279, and William Eldrich in Surrey in 1336. Drogo de Alrewic in the 1202 Pipe Rolls of Stafford, most certainly originated from the town. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Hugo Aelrici, which was dated 1095, in the rolls of the abbey of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, during the reign of King William 11, known as 'Rufus', reigned 1087 - 1100. 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.
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