Determining the origin of a surname is almost the Holy Grail in genealogical research. After all, it is the hereditary surname that makes genealogy possible at all.

Surnames were first introduced into England by followers of the Conqueror and most were derived from place names of their estates, either in France or England. The custom of applying a male’s surname to his children began in the twelfth century and spread slowly. It is thought that 75% of the population would have had a family name by 1400.

There a several trains of thought for the origin of BAGE. One thought is that BAGE was a Scandinavian personal name¹. BAGE is also Norman French for the word Badge, which in turn also relates to the Middle English word Bagge². BAGE is also the Danish word for bake3. All of this points to the likelihood of the name originating in Scandinavia and making its way to England, probably via France.

The first known occurrence of the name BAGE occurred in Cambridgeshire and was for a William Bage in 1273¹. Further to this the “Historical gazetteer of London before the Great Fire” references a John Bage⁴ (alias Parys) fl 1406 of 39 St Mary Le Bow. John was the servant of Robert Parys (Paris). John ‘s wife Maud fl 1426 is also mentioned. This is the first known instance of a married couple by the name Bage. The year 1539 saw the next recorded entry of the name in North Wiltshire. Robtus & Thomas³ are both recorded as Byllmen in the muster rolls of the tything (town) of Chalston in North Wiltshire. Further entries for Bage appear in Somerset in 1574, and in Herefordshire, Staffordshire, Dorset and Lincolnshire in the 1600’s. Over time the majority of Bage’s appear to have moved Northwards and the 1800 and 1900’s see the largest concentration around Yorkshire, Co Durham and Northumberland, though several small pockets of the name exist elsewhere.

Over time there will have been a number of variations in the spelling and pronunciation of the name. The above-mentioned John Bage’s surname was originally spelt Badghe. The variation is caused largely by the lack of literacy and the changes in local dialect giving different sounds to the name. Many surname reference works also indicate a connection to the names Bagge, Bagg, Bag, Bags, Baige etc.


Sources:

1. A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames by Charles Wareing Bardsley M.A., published, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, 1967 – page 73.

2. Answers.Com – Badge, URL: http://www.answers.com/topic/badge. Date accessed: 02 September 2005

3. Die.Net – Online dictionary – Bake, Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), URL: http://dict.die.net/bake/. Date accessed: 01 September 2005

4. Index of Persons - B', Historical gazetteer of London before the Great Fire:Cheapside; parishes of All Hallows Honey Lane, St Martin Pomary, St Mary le Bow, St Mary Colechurch and St Pancras Soper Lane (1987). URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=22622&strquery=BAGE. Date accessed: 01 September 2005.

5. Name index to North Wiltshire Musters, Transcript of North Wiltshire Muster roles from 30th anniversary of the reign of Henry VIII [1539]by Sir Thomas Phillips, Bart.URL:http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dutillieul/ZWiltsMuster/IndexWiltsMuster.html. Date accessed: 01 September 2005.