Starkey
A nickname surname from Stark, meaning “strong” or “stiff,” with an -ey/-ie diminutive ending.
The #2,415 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 20,578 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally explained as a diminutive or pet form of Stark. Stark itself was used as a nickname for someone considered strong, rigid, or stern, from an Old English and Middle English word with that sense. The ending -ey/-ie is a common English diminutive or familiar suffix, so Starkey originally meant something like “little Stark” or “son of Stark” in everyday use.
History
The name is long established in England and appears in historical records and surname lists in several spellings. Nineteenth-century surname writers also treated it as a dialect form of Stark, though one writer suggested a possible place-name link to Stawley in Somerset; that alternative is less commonly accepted. Starkey later spread beyond Britain through migration, especially to North America.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same root produced several related surnames, including Stark, Starkie, and Starkman.
From the historical record
“Chaucer, Cant. Tales, E 1457-9. STARKEY \ = Stark (q.v.) -|- the E. dim. STARKIE J suff. -e)y, -ie. STARKIES, Starkie's (Son). STARKMAN = Stark (q.v.) + man. William Sta.rcmaxi.'— Hund. Rolls. STARKS, Stark's (Son) : v. Stark. STARLING (Eng.) i a nickname from the”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)