Mackleden

This is a "rare as hens teeth" surname. It would appear to be Scottish although in fact there are no recordings of the surname in Scotland. Such few recordings as seem to be recorded are found in the East Anglian counties of England from Norfolk down to Kent, the latter county being the one with the greatest number, although these are small indeed. An examination of the surname listings suggests a possible "association" with the Irish surname MacAlinden or McAlinden. Developed in the 16th century from the pre 10th century Gaelic surname Mac Giolla Fhiondain, meaning "The son of the follower of St Finian", it is recorded in a bewildering number of spellings. These are known to include Glendon, Glindon, Mac Leddan, Liddane, Lindon, Luddan, Lyden, and O' Lydon! Is Mackleden another form of MacAlinden? This we dont know although there is a great similarity of spelling and pronunciation. What we can say is that before 1850 the number of people in the British Isles who could write their name was estimated at 20% of the population. This surname as shown below was recorded in Kent at least one hundred and thirty years earlier than that when only 5% of the population had this limited skill. So what we can say is that this surname had upto a 95% chance of being incorrect. The first recording that we have is in the county of Kent and is of Elizabeth Mackleden. She married one Stephen Mickelefield at Farningham on July 10th 1722.