Stearman

Stearman One-Name Study

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Study details

Study: Stearman

Variants: Steaman, Stearment, Stearmint, Stearmont, Steerman

Category: 1 - A study where research using core genealogical datasets and transcriptions is in its early stages.

Contact: Mrs Susan Cater

About the study

A study of the name 'Stearman' and variants in the UK (so far). I hope to continue studying the name in other parts of the world in due course. Stearman is fairly frequent in the USA.

Variant names

I have discovered the following variants in the records so far studied (UK Births, Marriages and Deaths, Wills, Censuses).

Steaman
Stearmont
Steerman
Steerment
Stereman
Stearment
Sturman

There are also occurrences of Sterman, Stirman, and Stairman. I have recently started checking the name Sturman, mainly in Norfolk and Suffolk. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Family Names Sturman is a separate name in its own right but also sometimes confused with Stearman.

Name origin

The usually stated origins of the name are Stearman meaning a herder of cattle (steers) or a pilot of ships (a steersman). The earliest occurrences I have found are in Norfolk, around Aylsham and Salle in particular.

Sturman is a relationship name from an unrecorded Middle English personal name *Sturmin , probably a diminutive in -in of Sturmi . The surname has probably become merged or confused with Stearman.

Historical occurrences of the name

The most famous Stearman I have found so far is Lloyd Stearman (1898-1975), the American aviator and aircraft designer, born in Kansas. He invented the Stearman aircraft.

Name frequency

There were 233 Stearmans recorded in the 1881 Census and 320 in 1911. In 2002 there were 455 Stearmans recorded in the UK and the name was ranked 12,218.

There were 672 Sturmans recorded in the 1881 Census and 1,281 in 1911. In 2002 there were 1,673 Sturmans recorded in the UK and the name was ranked 4,303.

Distribution of the name

The name seems to have originated in Norfolk, around Aylsham. At some point (mid 18th C. ) a branch of the Stearmans moved to the North East and settled mainly in Gateshead. In the North East the name morphed into Stearmont and Steerment (the latter in Hartlepool). There are also small numbers of Stearmans in Camberwell, South London, Brighton, Cambridge and Ely, Ipswich and Glanford Brigg, Lincolnshire. Stearmans don't seem to have moved around very much.

Data

So far I have recorded all Stearmans and the mentioned variants in UK Births, Marriages and Deaths and UK Censuses from 1841 to 1911. I have also recorded Stearman Wills and military records from World War One. I haven't yet had the chance to do very much proper analysis of this data.

Contact Details

Mrs Susan Cater

General Search Results

Occurrences of the surname Stearman in the Guild Indexes

(Click on the number to view the search results in each index. Indexes marked by * are only accessible by logged in Guild members.)

Global Marriages (public) 42
Global Marriages (members)* 45
Inscriptions Index 4

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