Surname Whyddon - Meaning and Origin
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Whyddon: What does the surname Whyddon mean?
The last name Whyddon is of English origin. It was originally derived from the place-name ‘Whydon’, which is thought to mean ‘willow valley’, as the ‘whydd’ element comes from the Old English words for willow (‘wid’) and a valley (‘denu’). This suggests that early bearers of the surname lived in a valley of willow trees.
The Whyddon surname is thought to have made its way north from the English West Midlands, with the earliest record of the name being found in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire during the 16th century.
Since then, bearers of the surname have spread throughout the UK and can be found in a wide range of locations. It is not known exactly how far and wide the Whyddon name has spread, but it appears that in remote areas of the UK, such as the Scottish Highlands, the surname is still in use.
In modern British society, the Whyddon surname remains a relatively uncommon one, so it is likely that the majority of those bearing the surname are descended from the same family tree.
Order DNA origin analysisWhyddon: Where does the name Whyddon come from?
The last name Whyddon is most commonly found in England today. The name is a variation of the more common Whiddon surname, which has its roots in the Middle English spelling of “widdam,” meaning woodland clearing. This surname was popular in the 1700s and 1800s, and as a result, there are many variations of the name throughout England.
The main areas that the Whyddon name is found today are the areas of the Mendip Hills of Somerset, the Cotswolds of Gloucester, and the coastal Lincolnshire counties of North East England. In these regions, the name is often found in the small villages of the area. There are also clusters of Whyddons found in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire; Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire; and Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester.
Many of the Whyddons have a farming background, which is not surprisingly given the rural nature of most of these places. Records from the 1800s show farmers from these places with the Whyddon surname. This surname has since spread further than these regions, primarily due to family migration, but its roots are almost certainly still located in these areas.
Variations of the surname Whyddon
The surname Whyddon is of Welsh origin; a variant spelling of it is Wyddon. It is an anglicised version of the Middle Welsh personal name Wigddon, which is composed of the elements wig, meaning battle, and don, meaning hill.
Variants of the surname Whyddon include Whitdon, Whiddon, Widdon, Whitton, Wydoan, and Wyddon. These spellings have all evolved due to the migratory trends of spelling which began in the early 19th century. It is presumed that there were further variations and variants that have not been recorded through census records, further evidence of how the spelling evolved through time.
Some of the most prominent variant surnames of the same origin are Whiteon, Whiton, Widon, Whiodon, Widon, Wyddon, Widons, Widin, Wyddin and Wydos. A well-known bearer of the surname Whyddon was Baron Whyddon, a distinguished Welsh aristocrat who lived in the 17th century.
Surnames that are derived from Whyddon include Whiddon, Whitton, Whitdon, Wydoan and Wyddon. Some families have adopted the spelling of Whyddom or Whiedom, and others the surname Whyding. It is believed these are derived from a location in Europe called Whyding, where some members of this family possibly descended from.
In some cases, the spelling of Whidden has come to be used for families with the same origins. This is often seen in America where the s used in place of the double d in the surname Whyddon.
Finally, the name Whyddon has evolved into newer surnames such as Whitdan and Whydon, with the d spelling replaced with the letter n.
Famous people with the name Whyddon
- Ed Whyddon: Ed Whyddon is an English professional footballer who currently plays for Newcastle United.
- Sir Ronald Whyddon: Sir Ronald Whyddon was a British administrator and colonial official who served as governor of the Seychelles and Governor of Trinidad and Tobago.
- Dame Ruth Whyddon: Dame Ruth Whyddon was a British diplomat who was the British ambassador to South Africa.
- Sir John Whyddon: Sir John Whyddon was a British military leader, and became Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces in 1962.
- Sir Brian Whyddon: Sir Brian Whyddon was the Governor of the Bank of England from 1977-1983.
- Christopher Whyddon: Christopher Whyddon is a British computer scientist who held the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in 2017.
- Paul Whyddon: Paul Whyddon is a medical and healthcare expert who has published many books on the subject.
- Christopher Whyddon: Christopher Whyddon is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Merton and Morden since 2013.
- John Whyddon: John Whyddon is a British baritone opera singer and professor of voice at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.
- Luke Whyddon: Luke Whyddon is an English cricketer who has played for the Hampshire county cricket team.