The Sterling genealogy

2 THE STERLING GENEALOGY
beginning of the twelfth century. At this date family names were
first coming into use among the Scots. Prior to this, they were
little known, men being designated as of their estates or as of the
towns in which they lived, as the sons of their fathers or members of
their respective clans. It will be seen that the Stirling race and
its descendants derive their name from the fact that the founder
was of Stirling. Many Scotch family names are compounds of a
christian name with the prefix Mac (meaning son of) or the affix,
son, as: MacDonald, son of Donald, MacGregor, son of Gregor,
MacPherson, son of Pherson, etc., and Donaldson, son of Donald,
Davidson, Johnson, et cetera.
More significance is often attached to the varying use of the
i, e, and a in the spelling of the name, whether Stirling, Sterling,
or Starling, than is justified. The use of these different vowels
has no bearing on any theory of an individual origin for each of
these forms. In Scotland, the name has been spelled in every con-
ceivable way during the eight hundred years of its history ; at
present, however, and for one hundred and fifty years or so, the use
of the i has been universal and where found outside of Scotland
usually indicates a close relationship with the family in that
country.
The e has been used by the Irish family throughout its exist-
ence, since the Scotch Covenanters first crossed over into Northern
Ireland, during the first half of the seventeenth century. It is
also the prevailing form adopted throughout America by the de-
scendants of the many emigrations from England and Ireland to
this country since 1635.
The a was in universal use in the American colonies down to the
beginning of the nineteenth century, when it was gradually super-
seded by the e.
Two branches in the United States still retain this earlier form.
In England the a has excluded the other forms altogether, save
where the bearer of the name has been closely related to the Scotch
or Irish families. It has been claimed that Starling has an entirely
distinct derivation than Stirling or Sterling, taking its origin
from the bird of that name, but this is doubtful. Where coats-ofarms
have been granted members of the Starling family in Eng-