Hardington

Recorded as Hardington, Hartington, and in Elizabethan times, Hartendyn, this is an English locational surname. It originates from any or all of the places called Hartington in the counties of Derbyshire, Northumberland, and Hartington Hall, also in Northumberland. The place name according to the Dictionary of English Place Names means "the stags hill" in Derbyshire and "the stags path" in Northumberland, from the pre 7th century word "heorta" meaning a hart or more commonally known as a stag. However this word was also used as an early personal name, which might give a more logical explanation of Harts Hill although Harts Path remains unconvincing. The first recordings of the place names are in the Domesday Book for Derbshire in1086 as Hortedun, and in 1161 in Northumberland as Hertweitun. Locational surnames are usually "from" names. Those were names given to people after they left their original villages or even towns to move somewhere else. In this case the name is quite well recorded in the city of London from the 16th century with recordings including Elsabeth Hartendyn who married Mark Balle at St Margarets Westminster, on January 21st 1594, and Eliza Hardington who married John Wildgooseat St Mary-le-Bone on August 25th 1670. The coat of ams has a gold shield charged with a stags head embossed in red.