Edrich

This interesting name, with variants Edridge and Etheridge, is of medieval English origin and is from the Old English pre 7th Century 'Eadric', which is itself derived from the words 'ead' prosperity or fortune, and 'ric' meaning power. The personal name first appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Aedricus, or Edric(us), with the development, Edrich Buck (1275, Hundred Rolls of Norfolk), Edericke le Blacke (1275, Hundred Rolls of Lincoln), and after 1200 (see below), Robert Eadric (1221, Oseney, Oxfordshire), William Ederyge (1332, Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire) and Edmund Edryk (1381, Subsidy Rolls of Suffolk). Amongst sample recordings in London is the christening of one Mary Edrich on October 9th 1614 at St. Dunstan's, Stepney. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Edrich, which was dated 1200, The Pipe Rolls of Hampshire, during the reign of King John, known as 'Lackland', 1199-1216. 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.