Cundy

This interesting and ancient name has three possible sources. Firstly, the name, chiefly found in Scotland, may be of Scottish locational origin, from the lands of Condie, near Forgandenny in Perthshire, where the name first appears in the early 15th Century. However, the name found here may also be a variant of "Condy", a topographical name given to someone who lived by a water channel, from the Old French, Middle English, "cond(u)it", a channel, pipe or pump used for conveying water. Finally, the surname may be of French locational origin, from places called Conde in Nord, Oise and Orne. The surname is first recorded from this source in the mid 12th Century (see below), while other early examples include: Aliz de Condi (Lincolnshire, 1185); Nicholas Cundy (Lincolnshire, 1200); Robert atte Conduyt (London, 1334); and William atte Conduit (Cambridgeshire, 1340). John de Conady is recorded in Perth in 1414, while one John Condy was a tenant of Fruchy, Falkland, in 1541, and David Condie, an Edinburgh man, is recorded in Dunfermline in 1572. A Coat of Arms was granted to the Condie family, which consists of three red cinquefoils in pale, between two silver palets, with a silver lion passant on a green chief, on a silver shield. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger de Cundi, which was dated circa 1150, in the "Chartulary of the Abbey of Rievaulx", Yorkshire, during the reign of King Stephen, known as "Count of Blois", 1135 - 1154. 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.