SEARCH FOR A PERSONAL NAME Whats in a name - a survey of first names

Use * for one or more unknown letters
Use ~ before name for Soundex search
Search
Help
Search
History
Adair (M)>

Adair (male)

Variants:Edgar (M)
Derivative of:Eadgar (M)
Feminine form:Adaire (F)
   
Source(s):
Private communication [AP-G]
Notes:

English and Scottish.

Although our formal sources don't directly give this forename, it is a known variant of the surname Edgar. We therefore think it is probably a variant of the forename Edgar/Eadgar, the Old English meaning of which is "fortune, prosperity" + "spear".

One correspondent [AP-G], however, believes that the name may have Scottish origins, derived from "oak tree ford". It is in use in New Zealand - which has a strong Scottish tradition - with the female variant Adaire. Although neither is found in the 1841 Census of Aberdeenshire, the male name occurs a few times in Scotland in 1841 but not in any English records currently on FreeCEN for that Census.