Carstarphen History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
Scotland

The distinguished family Carstarphen claims decent from Corstorphine, a village and parish originally in Midlothian, but now in the county of Edinburgh. 1

"This place, of which the name is of uncertain origin, appears to have been, from a very early period, the property and residence of families of distinction, of whom David le Mareschall held possession of it in the reign of Alexander II." 2

The original castle was of unknown origin, but we do know "in 1446, the castle of Corstorphine was destroyed, and the lands laid waste, by Chancellor Crichton and his military vassals, in retaliation of a similar outrage on his castle of Brankstoun, by Sir John Forrester and Sir William Douglas. In 1572, the castle was garrisoned by the Earl of Mar, regent of the kingdom, with a view to prevent the sending of supplies to the castle of Edinburgh, at that time held for Mary, Queen of Scots, by William Kirkaldy of Grange." 2

Early Origins of the Carstarphen family

The surname Carstarphen was first found in Corstorphine, but the family were later known as a Fife family. 1 "George Corstrophyne was witness in Crail, 1526. George and Thomas Corstorphin in Crail were cited before the Privy Council, 1567." 1

Early History of the Carstarphen family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Carstarphen research. Another 165 words (12 lines of text) covering the years 1567, 1583, 1589, 1590, 1598, 1608, 1624, 1660, 1745, 1767 and 1811 are included under the topic Early Carstarphen History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Carstarphen Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Corstophine, Carstarphen, Carstophine, Carstophene, Carstrphen, Corstophen and many more.

Early Notables of the Carstarphen family

More information is included under the topic Early Carstarphen Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Carstarphen Ranking

In the United States, the name Carstarphen is the 14,384^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3

Migration of the Carstarphen family

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Robert Corstorphen and his sons John and James, who all arrived in Virginia in 1746; and George Corstorphine, who came to Barbados between the years 1806-1834..

Contemporary Notables of the name Carstarphen (post 1700) +

Victor G. Carstarphen, American politician, Mayor of the City of Camden, New Jersey
Victor Leon Carstarphen (1952-2015), American songwriter, producer and keyboardist, part of the The Sound of Philadelphia in the 1970s
N. B. Carstarphen, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Louisiana, 1952; Louisiana Democratic State Chair, 1955 4

Citations +

Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 12) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html