Carr in my family tree
1. Northern English and Scots: variant of Kerr, a topographic name
for someone who lived near a patch of wet ground overgrown with brushwood,
from the Northern Middle English kerr (Old Norse kjarr). The
pronunciation reflects the Middle English change of -er- to
-ar-.
2. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic O'Carra descendant of Carra,
a byname meaning Spear.
3. Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Giolla Chathair son of the
servant of Cathar, a personal name derived from cath battle.
One branch of the family acquired the earldom of Somerset in 1613, when James I granted this title to his favourite Robert Carr (?1587-1645), to whom he had previously granted the confiscated lands of Sir Walter Raleigh at Sherborne.
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