Shaksper

Shaksper is a surname, most famously associated with William Shakespeare, the renowned English playwright and poet. The spelling "Shaksper" is a historical variant of the name Shakespeare, and variations were common during the Elizabethan era. This particular spelling appears in some surviving contemporary documents, including a deposition from a lawsuit in 1601 and the testimony of a witness in a land dispute in 1612.

The frequent use of variant spellings for surnames was not unusual in the 16th and 17th centuries. Scribes and individuals often spelled words phonetically, leading to inconsistencies. While "Shakespeare" is the most widely accepted and recognized spelling today, acknowledging "Shaksper" provides a more complete picture of the historical documentation surrounding the playwright. Scholars generally consider these different spellings to refer to the same individual. The precise reasons for the various spellings, whether deliberate or accidental, remain a subject of historical interest but do not fundamentally alter the identity of the man widely celebrated as the greatest writer in the English language.