Gideon

Like Abaham, Isaac and Jacob, this is an English surname of biblical origins. Again like these surnames which were originally quite popular in the West Country, it is a 'Crusader' name. These are names which whilst arguably Hebrew in origin, was not for many centuries Jewish, but Christian. The reasons are quite simple. There were no Jewish surnames in England before 1655, because there were no Jewish people. There had been in the 13th century, but they were expelled by King Edward 1st in 1296, a period right at the begining of the creation of the modern surnames. 'Biblical' surnames were names which were introduced into Europe by the famous crusaders of thge 12th century. At first they were given as first names to their children, but such was their popularity that by the 14th century they had become surnames in their own right. The most popular example is 'Jones', a patronymic form of Johan or John and the second most popular name in the English speaking world. 'Gideon' sometimes found as Giddion and Giddin is much less popular, although the reasons are obscure. Early examples of the surname recording are rare, but include William Gideon whose daughter Medices was christened at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on July 6th 1638, and Robert Gideon, a witness at St Mary Aldermary, in the city of London, on December 9th 1675.