Good

Recorded in several spelling forms including Good, Goode, Goude, Gudd, Gudde (English), Gode, Gude, Guth, Gut (German), LeGood (French), Goed, Goede, De Goede, (Flemish) and others, this is medieval surname which seems to originate from the pre 7th century Olde English word "god meaning good. Its origins are complex but are essentially nicknames firstly for a "good" person, someone who was pious and respected, although given the robust Chaucerian humour of the medieval period, possibly the reverse! Derived from the ancient word "god" meaning good, there are several popular surnames that include "good" as the first element, including Goodbody and Goodfellow. The second origin is from a medieval personal name. These were either Goda, a man's name, or Gode, a woman's, but both derive from the ancient word "god". Early examples of the the surname recordings taken from the surviving registers include Hermanus der Guot, given as being the burgher of Koln, in 1236, and Henning Gode of Havelberg in 1484, whilst in England Henrie Goode and Elizabeth Harrison were married on July 14th 1555, at the church of St. Mildred Poultry in the city of London. Thomas Good, of the now "lost" village of Old Sarum near the city of Salisbury, in Wiltshire, was an early emigrant to the developing colonies of America. He left Southampton on the ship "Bevis" in May 1635, bound for Virginia Colony. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Gilbert le Gode. This was dated 1213, in the Curia Regis rolls of the county of Berkshire, during the reign of King John of England, 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.