Gouldie

Recorded as Goldie and Gouldie, this is a Scottish surname. It is a diminutive of the surname Gold, a personal name of ancient times and recorded as far back as the 7th century. It does derive from gold, the precious metal, but mainly in the transferred sense of meaning a child with golden fair, probably a Viking. Later in medieval times the word was also used as a nickname for a goldsmith or gilder or perhaps to describe a person with an unusual pigmentation of one eye. The Name is recorded in England in 1345 as Guldeneye, which does transale as golden eye. Whether this was a person who had an unusual pigmenation of the eye, or whether it described somebody who was quick to seize the main chance, is not proven. An early and interesting example of the surname recording is that of the Reverend John Goldie (1718 - 1847). He was the minster of the parish of Temple, in Midlothian, for over fifty years. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Gouldy. He was the bishop of Moray, as shown in the Ecclesiastical Records of Scotland in 1567. This was in the last year of the so-called reign of Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542 - 1567. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.