Blaxter Family History

from Middle English blakestere blekkestere ‘one who makes things black’ or ‘perhaps one who makes black pigment or ink’ a derivative of Middle English blaken and blekken ‘to make (something) black’. It is from the Old English female form of Blacker but like many names with the feminine suffix -stere in Middle English it came to be used for men as well as women.

Middle English blekken was also an occasional variant of blechen ‘to bleach (cloth)’ so there may have been some confusion with the name in (2). from Middle English bleikestere ‘one who bleaches (cloth)’ (from Old Scandinavian bleikja ‘to whiten bleach’).

It is possible that some examples of Middle English blekestere in (1) belong here.