Paddington

This rare and interesting surname is a variant form of Paddington, which is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is locational from places so called in Middlesex and Surrey; the place in Surrey was originally called Paddingdon. The place in Middlesex means the "settlement of Padda's people", derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century personal name "Pad(d)a", of uncertain origin, and the Olde English "tun", farm, settlement. The place in Surrey means "Padda's or Patta's valley", derived from the Olde English personal name "Pad(d)a", as before, and the Olde English "denu", valley. The place in Middlesex was first recorded as "Padintun" in the Saxon Chartularies of 959, and the place in Surrey was first recorded as "Padendene" in the Domesday Book of 1086. The modern surname can be found as Paddington, Pattington, Paddingdon, Padginton and Patinton. Among the Church Recordings in Surrey are the christenings of Elizabeth Paddington on May 17th 1668 at Godstone, and of John, son of William and Mary Paddington, on September 22nd 1780 at Cobham. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Joan Paddington, which was dated November 12th 1568, christened at the Church of St. Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe, London, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st, known as "Good Queen Bess", 1558 - 1603. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.