Stark
A nickname surname meaning “strong,” “stout,” or “stern,” from an old word for something hard or rigid.
The #827 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,398 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Stark comes from an old Germanic adjective meaning strong, stiff, or severe. In Middle English starke and Old English st(e)arc meant “stiff” or “unyielding,” and the name is closely related to Old Norse sterk-r, with the same sense. As a surname, it was first used as a nickname for a forceful or physically strong person.
History
The name is well established in English records and also appears in Scotland, where it could be applied to a notably strong person. Historical surname writers often connect it with a descriptive nickname rather than an occupation or place-name. Related forms include Starke, Starkie, Starkly, and Starkman.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname writers sometimes gloss Stark with the phrase “the strong” or “the stiff,” showing how directly the old meaning survived into modern scholarship.
From the historical record
“STARES, Stare's (Son). STARK \ (Eng. and Scand.) Strong, Stern, STARKE J Severe [M.E. stark(e, O.E. st(e)arc = 0.N. sterk-r (Dan.-Norw. stark] For, God be thanked, I dar make kvaunt 1 feele my lymes [limbs] stark and sufSsaunt To do al that a man bilongeth to. —”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)