View Message

It's the spelling that is strictly American. Medieval and old English would not have expanded the -c to -ck. I can't give you a precise date, but this is a modern English spelling reform. Ealdric/Aldric/Eldric is not recorded in Anglo-Saxon (Nennius mistakenly calls king Æþelric of Bernicia Ealdric, and Forstemann lists an Alderich, which seems a continental name). The form suggests it is a Norman/Norse name rather than Anglo-Saxon, and from Norse Eld- fire (OE Æled/Eled), not Ald- "old"; but the E- could result from leveling of Ealdric/Aldric (there is no /e/ sound here, rather this represents a diphthong of /æ/ and /a/ — both sounds standardised as "a" in later spelling — due to "breaking" of the Æ before -ld) due to the -ric (/a/ is low vowel, /i/ is a high vowel, "levelling" to the mid-vowel /e/ smooths the transition). Note that /E/ of Eld- "fire" is a long vowel, while the /A/ of Alderich is a short vowel, which (normally) requires the medial -e-; OE Eald- is lengthened by breaking so skirts this general rule in other names.