The story of how I chose Ellen Starsmore as my author name involves a serendipitous family dinner and William Shakespeare.
A few years ago, I decided to adopt a bright, new author name for my indie publishing journey.
I brainstormed a ton of options. It was super important to me that whatever name I selected had relevance and personal meaning. I needed to connect and identify with it. (For this reason, I ultimately retained my legal first name.)
I looked at a lot of family names. Would you believe that three out of four of my grandparents’ names were men’s names? Argh! I also looked at various mash-ups of my actual name… nothing was gelling.
One evening at dinner…
I was having dinner with my parents when my dad (who is interested in genealogy) said he’d traced back some ancestors to the 17th Century. He opened up his family tree software and showed me.
And there they were. Five generations of Starsmore. (OK, one was Staresmore, but we’ll ignore that creepy version.)
Immediately, ‘Starsmore’ felt right for a fantasy author. It felt like me.
I sat with the name for a few weeks, discussed it with some friends… but it was pretty much a foregone conclusion from the moment I first heard ‘Starsmore’.
Even more thrilling, our Starsmore line is related to William Shakespeare. It’s not a direct line, but a cousin way back when. This doesn’t change the fact that I have before me a family tree linking me to the Bard himself.
Origins of the name Starsmore
I’ve read several origin stories for the name ‘Starsmore’. On the whole, there doesn’t seem to be huge quantities of information, but the consensus seems to be it’s an old English name. (Just how old, who knows?)
One account says the name comes from the Old English pre 7th Century word ‘steorra’ (a byname for someone with a streak of white hair) and ‘mor’, a marsh or fen.
Another site suggests it’s a Saxon name first referenced in the 13th Century in Staffordshire, where Starsmores held a family seat as Lords of the Manor.
Geneanet says it’s a habitational name linked to ‘Starmer’ from either 1) Starmore in Westrill (Leicestershire) from an Old English personal name Storm (genitive Stormes) + Old English worth ‘enclosure’, or 2) the lost place name Stermore near Stowe by Chartley (Staffordshire) from an uncertain first element + Old English mōr ‘moor marshland’.
Perhaps my favourite (although slightly questionable) definition is from Crests and Arms, which says Starsmore “may suggest a connection to places known for starlit skies or significant natural beauty. The name evokes imagery of brightness and uniqueness…”
An author name is born
So, that’s how I chose Starsmore for my author name.
Weirdly, I really identify as Ellen Starsmore now. It doesn’t feel like someone else. Unlike every other name I considered, Starsmore felt like me right from the start.