Recorded as Striven, Strivin and Strivens, this seems to be an English and perhaps Scottish surname, but one which may be of early French origins. If so it would seem to originate from the medieval word "estriver", meaning somebody who fights. Whether this was a person who sought any sort of fight, or whether it referred to a champion boxer or a knight who took part in tournaments, is not known. It is quite rare and not apparently recorded in any of the English dictionaries of surnames, although as a surname it has been recorded in the surviving church registers of the city of London since at least the time of King Charles 11nd, 1660 - 1685. There is another and wholly unproven possibility that it is locational. The gazetters of the British Isles indicate that there is a place called Loch Striven in Argyll, Scotland, but if so the surname does not appear to be recorded in the Scottish registers. However there is a similar name in Scotland although one perhaps even rarer than Striven(s). This is Striviling, first recorded in Edinburgh on September 14th 1597 with that of James Striviling. Examples of the surname recording include Lettice Striven who married James Pullen at St Brides Fleet Street, on May 29th 1664, and John Strivens whose daughter Harriet was christened at St George in the East, Stepney, on Christmnas Day 1776.

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