Starks
A patronymic surname meaning “Stark’s son” or “belonging to Stark,” ultimately from a nickname for a strong, rigid, or stern person.
The #1,782 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,338 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Starks is generally understood as a patronymic form of Stark, with the final -s meaning “son of” or “belonging to.” The surname Stark itself comes from Middle English stark, from Old English stearc, meaning strong, rigid, firm, or severe. In some cases it may also have begun as a nickname for someone seen as stern or unbending.
History
English surname dictionaries treat Starks as a regular patronymic development from Stark. The name is found in medieval English records and later spread through Britain and, by migration, to North America and other English-speaking regions. It remains less common than Stark but follows the same surname pattern.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The older adjective stark survives in phrases like “stark naked” and “stark raving mad,” which preserve the word’s old sense of force or intensity.
From the historical record
“William Sta.rcmaxi.'— Hund. Rolls. STARKS, Stark's (Son) : v. Stark. STARLING (Eng.) i a nickname from the Starling [M.E. sterling, O.E. starling, m., — star, starling -f- the (double) dim. suff. -ling] 2 V. Sterling. Starling. — Domesday-Book. William Starling. — Hund. Rolls-”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)