Beden

This is an English locational surname. It is listed by the International Genealogical Index in the following spellings: Beaden, Beden, Bedden, Bedon, Beddon, Bedin, Bedinn, Beding, Bedding, Beeden, Beedon, and possibly others such as Bedam, Beadham, Beedone, and Bedham. The origination is either from Beddingham, a village in the county of Sussex, recorded as Beadyngham in the famous Anglo-Saxon Chronicles of the year 801 a.d. and as Bedingham in the Domesday Book of 1086 or more likely perhaps, it is from the similarly named and translating Bedham, also in Sussex, the local pronunciation it is said, being 'Bedon' or similar. Both places have the general meaning of the homestead of the Beadda people, and early English tribe. Another faint possibility is that it may originate, at least for some nameholders, from a now 'lost' medieval village. Three thousand surnames are known to originate from such places, so this is not entirely unusual. Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. Recordings of the surname from surviving church registers include: the christening of Richard, the son of John Bedding, on December 23rd 1571 at St. Dunstan's in the East, Stepney, the marriage of Edwarde Beddone and Margarite Pearson at St Olaves church, Hart Street, in the city of London, on September 27th 1581, Custans Beding who married Johannes Bartlet on January 24th 1584 at Cowfold, in Sussex, and finally Elizabeth Beeden who married David Tridwell at St Bartholomews, the Less, also in the city of London, on January 29th 1664. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.