Bager History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The name Bager comes from one of the family having worked as a peddler who would travel buying and selling goods for profit. Another source claims the name was derived from the French word bagagier, or baggage-carrier. 1 A 'badger,' a hawker, was also a dealer in corn and other commodities, buying in one place to sell in another. 2

Early Origins of the Bager family

The surname Bager was first found in Yorkshire where one of the first records of the name was Richard le Bagger, who was listed on the Assize Rolls of Lancashire in 1246 and later in Yorkshire in 1297. Later Yorkshire rolls included Adam Badger in 1324. 3

Badger was a Warwickshire name in the reign of Henry VIII.. There was a Thomas le Baggere in the adjoining county of Oxford in the 13th century. 4

Early feudal rolls provided the king of the time a method of cataloguing holdings for taxation, but today they provide a glimpse into the wide surname spellings in use at that time. The Hundredorum Rolls of 1273 included Thomas le Baggere, Oxfordshire and later the Lay Subsidy Rolls listed Robert le Bagger, Lancashire, 1333. The Yorkshire Poll Tax Rolls of 1379 listed Willelmus Bagger; and Ricardus Badger. 2

Interestingly, none of the dozen or so sources we consulted felt the name could have derived from badger, the animal.

Early History of the Bager family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bager research. Another 77 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1086, 1573, 1580, 1585, 1602, 1605, 1610, 1629, 1639, 1641, 1651, 1778 and 1816 are included under the topic Early Bager History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bager Spelling Variations

Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Bager have been found, including: Badger, Badge, Bagehot, Baghot, Badghot and others.

Early Notables of the Bager family

Distinguished members of the family include George Badger, English bookseller in London who held a shop at St. Dunstan's Churchyard in 1641 and later at St. Dunstan's Churchyard, Fleet Street, 1641-1651. He is thought to have been a relation of Richard Badger [q. v.] and Thomas Badger [q. v.]. Richard Badger was the son of John Badger, of Stratford-upon-Avon. The parish registers of the town do not confirm this, the only entries of a Richard Badger being Richard, son to George Badger, born September 14th, 1580, and another son of the same name, born August 17th, 1585. There is no mention...
Another 142 words (10 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bager Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bager migration to the United States +

Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers because of the political and religious discontent in England. Often faced with persecution and starvation in England, the possibilities of the New World attracted many English people. Although the ocean trips took many lives, those who did get to North America were instrumental in building the necessary groundwork for what would become for new powerful nations. Among the first immigrants of the name Bager, or a variant listed above to cross the Atlantic and come to North America were :

Bager Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

William Bager, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1813 5
Maria Bager, aged 24, who arrived in New York in 1854 5

Historic Events for the Bager family +

Bismarck

Helmut Bäger (1923-1941), German Maschinengefreiter who served aboard the German Battleship Bismarck during World War II when it was sunk heading to France; he died in the sinking 6

Citations +

Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Guppy, Henry Brougham, Homes of Family Names in Great Britain. 1890. Print.
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Bismarck & Tirpitz Class - Crew List Bismarck. (Retrieved 2018, February 06). Retrieved from https://www.bismarck-class.dk/bismarck/crew/bismarck_crew.html#crew_details