Origin of the Scriven Name

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: England
Surnames/tags: Scriven Scrivens

Origin of the name Scriven

The Scriven name came from two possible sources. One was Norman, the other Saxon.

The standard explanation for the origin of the name Scriven is that it was a Norman occupational surname, derived from the Old French word escrivein (a scribe or record keeper). A number of websites tell us that the first appearance of the name was with Richard le Scrivein, around 1210. After the Norman Conquest, Old English changed with the infusion of an enormous amount of Norman words into the language. Latin, which had been used on the continent for some time as the common professional language of Europe, generated numerous new words, and "many Latin words for activities came to also be used to refer to the people engaged in those activities." (See Old English, Latin Influence.) A scriven was a copyist, or notary, a writer of deeds and wills. He was employed by courts and monasteries, any group with property and standing in the medieval community. In other words, in an otherwise illiterate community, he was the one who wrote up important or official documents. The Scrivens took their name from their job title, just as the Taylors and Smiths did.

The Norman origin: an occupational name

There is another part to this story. According to Beryl Nuneaton, researchers found the first record of the name Scriven was in Yorkshire, “where they were seated from early times and granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege lord, for their assistance in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Scriven emerged as a notable family name in the county of Yorkshire where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity seated as lords of the Manor of Scriven and estates in the parish of Knaresborough, in the West Riding of Yorkshire.” He adds the following records of early ancestors with the surname: Richard le Scriven (mentioned earlier) 1208 - 13 Fees, (Liber Feodorum, 3 Vols. London (1920-31); O, (Oxfordshire); Gervase le Escriuein 1278 AssSo, (Assise Roles, Somerset); and Richard Scrivin, son of Norman Scrivin, 1294, AD vi (K(A descriptive catalogue of Ancient Deeds (in progress), Kent. (Beryl Nuneaton, “The Scrivens Line” at Rootsweb.ancestry.com)

By the 15th century, Nuneaton says, the name had spread to many places in England, including “Stapleford in Cambridge, to Frodesley in Shropshire, to Worcestershire, to Ramridge, to Backton in Norfolk, and to Sibton in Suffolk.” (See Beryl Nuneaton’s post, “The Scrivens Line” at Rootsweb.ancestry.com) In Scotland, according to Wikipedia, there is a hamlet called Humbie, not far from Edinburgh, where a James Scriven (d. 1688) has a monument built in his honor in the local churchyard. There is even an ancient Loch Scriven in Scotland ("Striven," or in Scottish Gaelic, "Loch Sroigheann") (See Loch Striven). So the name may have spread afar very early. [1]

The proliferation of the Scriven surname (and others) probably had a lot to do with the English Poll Tax, which was a per capita tax on individuals (“poll” meaning “head” as in "head count" in Old English). It was first levied in 1275 and was used by kings to help fund various wars. The development of surnames in England, at least, was made necessary to keep accurate tax records. So, it would not be surprising to see the surname emerge around that time. See Poll Tax.

No doubt, Nuneaton’s research on the surname is tied to the village of Scriven near Knarlesborough, England, the village that gave King William I’s forester and fowler his surname. King Henry’s Anglo-Saxon fowler was named Gamel Auceps, and he was put in charge of the forests in the West Riding area of Yorkshire. Thus, Gamel became Gamel de Scriven. (See Gamel Auceps de Scriven) Or, it may be the other way around: Gamel, appointed sheriff, gave the town of Scriven a name that was derived from the Saxon word for "sheriff" (from the Old English scīrgerefa).

Saxon origins

That is why there is some question whether the Norman origin is the whole story--or even the main part of it. The name Scriven itself may be derived from the local Saxon of the old Yorkshire district. According to J. J. Sheahan in History and Topography of the Wapentake of Claro, 1871 (pp 134—136), Scriven came from a word meaning “the residence of the Shrieve, or Sheriff of the district, who, in Saxon times, held his Scyregmot or Court twice a year.” Since the family of Scriven descended from Gamel Auceps who had a confirmation of his lands from Henry I (1100—1135), it’s reasonable to assume Gamel was the “Shrive” of the district, as well as “the first of his house to enjoy the feudal honor of Chief Forester of the Forest and Parks of Knaresborough.” (For a fuller discussion of Gamel and his son Orm, see [History], a very detailed and colorful account of the Slingsby de Scriven.)

Another Saxon explanation: a place name

At least one local researcher in Yorkshire, (See The Early Relationships of Scriven and Knaresborough in The Atkinson Papers) thought the surname came from a Saxon word for "caves," which are plentiful on a hillside nearby, or perhaps "hollows," that is, slight depressions or valleys that mark the surrounding land. Both Scriven and Knaresborough are names of Saxon origin, Scriven being from O.E. scraef, to which an “ing” was added (meaning “little”) with Scriven then meaning “the place of the little cave dwellers.” (That would mean that the original surname in Old English was something like “Scraefing,” where the “f” eventually morphed into a “v” and the ending “g” was simply dropped.) Atkinson explains that, originally, Scriven was an area much larger than the town of that name is today, and that the “caves” in question are located “a mile or more along the north bank of the River Nidd at Knaresborough [where] there are more or less precipitous cliffs of soft limestone honey-combed with natural caves. Some of these, like St. Robert’s Cave, have been inhabited by hermits within historic times.” (“The Early Relationships of Scriven and Knaresborough,” in The Atkinson Papers, Prime Source Harrogate Library, 19 February 1933 and 5 September 1938) In addition, The House of Names website tells us that the name “Knaresborough” comes from the Old English, meaning “a hollow place with pits.” Gerry Jackson, a resident of nearby Poppleton (and helpful volunteer local genealogist), wrote to me that "Scriven is in the Domesday Book - where it is called Scrauinge/inghe: the Kings Land. This makes me suspect the name is not derived from the [Old French name for the] occupation of scrivener. I can't find an earlier reference to what was, presumably, a Saxon settlement." If true, this means that the name of Scriven, if not the family surname name itself, is a place name of Saxon invention which predates the Norman Invasion.

The Scriven Project has studied the history of the Town of Scriven. It was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, supported by the Arts and Museum Department of Harrogate Borough Council, and was completed in 2013. The archeological part of the study may be of interest to others with the Scriven surname. (See Archaeology Summary)

Were there two separate origins of the name?

In any event, it seems doubtful that the Scriven name was simply a Norman import. It is worth noting, too, that online searches even show some early "Scrivens" in England with the ending "s," (though mostly "Scriven" without the "s.") In my line, the ending "s" wasn't added until my grandfather Clarence decided to use it. There were also other early variations in England, such as “Scriffin” and “Scrivin,” which make sense if you take into account the Old English spelling mentioned above and the general illiteracy of a population who had few occasions to write or have their names recorded. If you're exploring the surname on WikiTree, you will notice a lot of "Scrivens" (with the ending "s") English profiles entered by WikiTree member Colin Scriven, many dating back into the 15 and 1600's. This fact leads me to speculate that there may have even been two independent origins of the name, one from the Norman occupational name, the other from the Saxon place name.

When I asked Colin Scriven via email (6/19/2005) if he had any thoughts on whether a picture emerged on where the ancestors with the ending "s" were from, he had this to offer: "There is a general pattern with our name variants. Scriven and Scrivens, Scrivins, came south from Yorkshire to the west of the UK (i.e. Shropshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Devon, Dorset etc.) Scriveners, Scribbeners, Scribbins came south from Yorkshire down the eastern side of the UK (i.e., Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Kent etc.) Naturally, there are some of each west and east, but this is how it works out, generally." Given Colin's observation on how the ancestors migrated south from Yorkshire, it does seem possible that the name had two separate origins, one Norman and one Saxon, or that it differentiated soon after ( within a century or so of the Norman Invasion of 1066), and then persisted with only slight variations from then on.

Early American appearances of the name

In the Americas, there were Scrivens recorded in the 1600's. There was Mathew Scrivener who settled in Virginia in 1607 (13 years before "taking an oath of allegiance and [religious] conformity, before they were allowed to leave.") In going to Barbadoes or Bermuda, these oaths were not required, consequently many emigrants shipped to Bermuda and Barbadoes and, from there, came to Virginia and New England on the Mayflower); Robert Scriven [this could have been the earliest known ancestor of James Scriven of Colyton, Devon, his great grandfather who was born around 1610] settled in Virginia in 1635; Arthur Scriven settled in Virginia in 1663; Nathaniel Scriven settled in Nevis [a Caribbean island often used as a stop over on the way to Virginia, lately in the news because of the musical Hamilton] in 1663; and John Scriven settled in Barbados in 1665.” (Beryl Nuneaton’s “The Scrivens Line”) "The Scribner Families" site suggests that many immigrants' trip to mainland America was interrupted with a first stop at the Barbados, Bermuda, and other islands so they could avoid taking the oath of allegiance and religious conformity, before they were allowed to leave.

All of these, of course, predate my immigrant ancestor, James Scriven, who came to Oyster Bay around 1711. Finally, there was William Screven, who also started out as a Scriven when he first came to Kittery, Maine, from Somerset, England, then migrated to the Charleston, South Carolina area to escape religious persecution, and there started the Southern Baptist Church.

To Nuneaton's list I would add John Scribner, whose surname was Scriven when he was born in 1623 in Shropshire, England, but changed after his migration to New Hampshire circa 1660. There is an interesting account of why the John Scriven family may have become the Scribners on the Scribner Families site, under the title, "Family of John Scriven." While this explanation is speculative, it may be of interest to those wondering about the permutations of the Scriven name. The possible reasons include: decoupling the family from ancestor Sir Thomas Scriven's association with the disgraced King Charles I; draw a distinction between them and Rev. John Screven who lived in Kittery, Maine (and whose name originally was Scriven); establishing a new identity in the Colonies; and last, a transcription error by a local official that became accepted in the public record and "stuck." To me, the first, the "decoupling" theory, seems most likely. Unfortunately, "The Scribner Families" site does not attempt to trace the name origin past Sir Thomas Scriven of Frodesley.

I've created a number of supporting pages that explore various related genealogical topics in a little more depth. Here are the links to them with a brief description of each.

In addition to the tree profiles here on the early Scrivens of Colyton, see The Village of Scriven and the Slingsbys.

For a brief outline of the four family lines going back from my grandparents, see My Grandparents' Ancestors.

The page The Final s in Scrivens tells the story of how my grandfather added the "s" to the family name.

For links to some of my more interesting ancestors, go to the page on Notable Ancestors.

For some historical context to better understand my ancestors' lives in the times in which they lived, take a look at Scriven Ancestry Timeline.

For a brief discussion of Westward Migration of the Scrivens, see The Scriven Family Migration Routes or the end of Matthias Scriven's biography and Joshua Scriven's biography.