Dearth Family History

English (Middlesex and Surrey): variant of Death with intrusive -r-. Death is derived from Middle English de(e)th and Old English dēath ‘death’ acquired by someone who had played the part of the personified figure of Death in a local pageant or play or else one who was habitually gloomy or sickly.

The intrusive -r- may have been a deliberate attempt to dissociate the name from death. Alternatively, the name may perhaps be a nickname from Middle English derth ‘famine, dearth, need’ (of uncertain application).