Origin of the Starritt Name

Extract from the Book--"The Surnames of Scotland"

STIRRAT, STIRRET, STIRRIT. STARRAT or STIRRAT was a once common surname in the parish of Dalry, Ayrshire. Of local origin from Stairaird (now Stirie) near Stair, in 1698 described as a 40s. Iand (Retours, Ayr, 696). Andreas Starheved resigned the serjandship of Lanark in reign of David 11 (RMS. 1, App. 11, 1341). John Sterhede appears in 1493 (CDE., 56) and Robert Sterhed was witness in Irvine, 1499 (Simon, 71) James Storrat received a charm "in breade for ane blaink of ane ill eye," 1650 (Pollok, 1, p. 354). James Stirrat (1781 - 1843), poet, was born in Dalry. William Starratt was "deacone of the hamermen" of Stirling, 1656 (SBR., p. 222), Mr Andrew Stirie was minister at Dalry, 1686, and Dorathie Stirrett is recorded there in the same year (RPC., 3, ser. Xll, p. 355). lsobel Stirrat is recorded in Campbeltoun, Argyllshire, 1687. David Stirret in Glassell. 1735 (Aberdeen CR. ).

The name Sterrett is derived from the name of a farmstead in the parish of Dalry, Aryshire, near the present town of Mauchline in Scotland. This land was known in Medieval times as "Stairaird" and allegedly means "path over a bog" in Galic. In the period following the war for Scottish independence (1295 - 1314) large land holdings in Aryshire, including Stairaird, were awarded to Sir James Douglas, "the Balck Douglas", for his tireless service and loyalty to the king, most likely about 1315, but certainly before King Robert Burce's death in 1329. About this time surnames began to be adopted and the origenitors of the Sterrett family were called "Stairaird" after the farmstead which they inhabited, a common custom at the time and the origination of many present-day surnames. As the land they farmed was part of the hildings of the Douglases (which they held in fief from the lord), they were vassels of this great family and consequently they are a sept of the House of Douglas. In early medieval times the people of the farm were villains (low born freemen who were subjects of a lord) and lived as farmers, household servants, maids, stc. Under feudalism they were granted tendency of the Stairaird farmstead and were obligated in return to provide part of the produce, time, and labour for their land, including military service. Black states (in his book "Surnames of Scotland") the earliest record of the ancestral name is from the reign of King David II when Andreas Starheved resigned the serjandship of Lanark in 1349. (Serjand possibly meant sergeant and would refer to a military commander of a district, similar to an English sherriff.) Lanark was in the heart of Douglass territory at the time, and the fact that Andreas Stareved held the serjandership there suggests that he had risen in the service of the Douglases to that position. The name Stareved is an early form of Stairaird, and is part of the evolution of the name to one of the modern forms. In Scotland many final "D"s in words were pronounced alike "T"s, such as in the name steward. Thus it is easy to see how the name Stairaird evolved to Sterrett. Black records a John Starhede in 1493; and Robert Starhed as witness to a charter in Irvine in 1499. Irvin was also originally part of the vast Douglas holdings which were forfeited to the crown in 1455 when the Earl of Douglas was attainted by King James II. By the time the family had grown in numbers and had spread across lowland Scotland. The Protocol book of James Young 1485-1515, lists about a dozen individuals, mainly in Leith near Edinburgh, with the names spelled Starhed, Starhede, Sterheid or Sterhed. As time goes on other Scottish records as Storrat, Stirrat and Stirret with the greatest concentration of the names still in Ayrshire and the southwest coast of Scotland. Sterretts are mentioned in historic records as having been clergymen, poets, decons and tradesmen. None are found to have risen to any great office or to have held any title nor to have achieved notoriety though villainy or treachery, so it would appear safe to say  that for many generations they were humble and law-abiding folk going quietly about their daily lives without attracting much attention. It would also appear from the records that the family was never very numerous. In the late 1500's or early 1600's a branch of the Sterrett family emigrated to North Ireland, perhaps as members of one of the colonization schemes known as the Ulster Plantations. As the family became established there, it spread to counties Armagh, Tyrone and Donegal where it is still found today.After a period of time in Ireland some of the family left for America,  probably shortly before 1700 and settled in Pennsylvaina. There is a Sterrett family plot dating from the early 18th century in a churchyard in Donegal, Pennsylvania; and a township known as "Sterretts Gap" in Pennsylvania. This was settled by a Sterrett who operated a toll road through a "gap" or pass on his property in the Applachian mountains. There is also a township south of Erie, PA known as Sterrettania.

The family in the new world prospered and other immigrants with the name arrived from Ireland, Scotland and England settling in Nova Scotia, New Brunswich, New England and across the southern colonies. In the Revolution, Sterretts fough on both sides; many on the Loyalist side moving on to Canada following the end of the hostilities. In the Civil War Sterretts were again found on both sides and several with the name distinguished themselves by gallantry in action. Though the name has never been common, it is now found from coast to coast. Sterretts immigrated to other British colonies also, and are found world wide. 

Variations of the name include Storrat, Stirrat, Starrett, Sterritt and others.