Evensden

Recorded in a wide variety of spellings including: Evenden, Evensden, Eversden, Evesden and Euesden, this is an English locational surname. It may have originated from Evendine, a hamlet near Ledbury in Herefordshire, or the similar village of Everden in Cambridgeshire, or from Ovenden in Yorkshire and Kent, or even from a now totally 'lost' medieval village. The component elements of the placenames seem to be similar, and probably derive from the pre 7th century word "efn", meaning a smooth pasture, and denu, a valley. Such locational names were originally given as a means of identification to those who left their original homes to settle elsewhere. It was then and it it often remains so today, that the easiest means of identifying a stranger, was to call him, and sometimes her, by the name of the place from whence they came. Spelling in medieval times and later, being at best erratic, and local dialects very thick, lead to the development of 'sounds like' spelling variants.. In this case early examples of the surname recording taken from surviving registers and charters include: Robart Evindone, christened at St. Mary's church, Reading, in the county of Berkshire on November 17th 1554, and Johan Evenden who married William Woodcocke at the same place on June 17th 1571. Other examples of the recordings are those of Ann Ewesdon, who was christened at St Andrews church, Enfield, Middlesex, on May 10th 1655, and William Euesden, whose daughter Ann, was christened at St Johns church, Hackney, on December 18th 1791. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.