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SPRAGUE Family History

This interesting and unusual surname is of Old Scandinavian origin, and is a patronymic form of the surname derived from the Old Norse byname "Sparkr", meaning sprightly, vivacious. The name Sparkes or Sprakes contains the patronymic suffix "-s", meaning son of; hence, "son of Sparkr". The byname was introduced into England by Scandinavian settlers. Variants of the surname in the modern idiom include Sparke, Sprake, Sprague, Spragge, and Spragg. The earlier form of the surname is first recorded in the Assize Court Rolls of Lincolnshire, of 1202, where one William Sperc is listed, and Ralph Sparke is recorded in the 1221 Book of Ely (Suffolk), while the metathesized form, transposing the "r" and "a", first appears in the early 14th Century (see below)...