This rare surname form is a late medieval Cornish aphetic dialectal development of the original Norse-Viking pre 7th Century personal name "Hrod-geirr", translating as "famous-spear". In its original form the name was probably baptismal, or may have been a term of honour bestowed upon a successful warrior. The later Anglo-Saxons and the Norman-French also accepted the name transmuting it into the popular "Rodger" or "Rogier" respectively, and as nicknames of endearment, Rodge, Hodge and Dodge, all of which became surnames in their own right. In Cornwall the name spelling is found as Oager, Odger(s), Oger(s), Ogger(s), Oager, Oadgier(s), Odggers and even Oder or Odder, whilst Hodder seems to be another 18th Century development. Cornish recordings of the name include: John Odger of Mullion on August 10th 1601; Samuell Odgers of Constantine on November 2nd 1674; whilst the first true name recording is probably Richard Roger in the Archaelogica Cantiana of 1263. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger, the Marescalus (a farrier), which was dated 1086, in the Domesday Book of Essex, during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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