This is a patronymic form of the Olde German and Anglo-Saxon "sae-gar", a personal name of pre 7th century origins and found in 20th century England as Sagar or Seager, and in Germany as Sieger or Siegart(en), or more rarely Siegerts(z). These early war-like names, as in this case where the literal translation is "sea-spear", were very popular with all the nations of the "Dark Ages" from A.D. 410 to A.D. 1066, and in a wide variety of spellings were recorded throughout the Baltic, and down into Germany, Flanders and ultimately France. It is difficult to be precise as to when "sae-gar" first became a surname, but as the earliest recordings are generally British, we have shown that below: However other recordings include Zacharias Siegart who married Anna Nestler at Steinbach, Sachsen. On November 20th 1626, Hannah Siegerten (the patronymic form) who married George Losch at Brandenburg Stadt on March 6th 1746, and Johann Siegertsz, was a christening witness at Brueggen, Rheinland, on April 8th 1854. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Walter Sagar, which was dated 1195, in the Pipe Rolls of Corfe, County Dorset, during the reign of King Richard 1, known as "The Lionheart", 1189 - 1199. 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.

© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024