Dudhill

Recorded in several spellings such as Dudhill, Dudill, and Duddhall, and in some cases overlapping with Dudell and Duddle, which may have a different root, this is an English post medieval locational surname. It originates from the village of Dudhill in the county of Salop (Shropshire), a settlement of pre 7th century Olde English or Anglo-Saxon origins. The place name and hence the later surname is believed to mean "Dudda's hill", the Dudda tribe being famous throughout the West Midlands area in ancient times. Locational surnames are usually "from" names. This is to say that they were usually given to people after they left their original village of town and moved elsewhere. Although "elsewhere" may still only be the next place along, it was the normal practice to call people, and particularly "strangers or foreigners" by the name of the place from whence they came. This method of identification is still applied as a nickname, in many areas of the world. Normally the earliest examples of the surname recording in the church registers are to be found in London, but this name breaks the mould, being first recorded in its home county of Shropshire. These recordings include Johan Duddhall, at Christ Church, Shrewsbury, on July 14th 1642, and William Dudhill, at Lilleshall, on June 23rd 1833.