Longden - Name

Recorded as Langden, Longden and Longdon, this is an English surname It is locational from any of the various places called Longden, Longdon, or Langdon, respectively in the counties of Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Essex, Kent and Warwickshire. The placenames are variously recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Langedune, Langenduna and Longedun and all share the same derivation and meaning. This is from the Old English pre 7th century words "lang" or "long" meaning "long" plus "dun", a hill or slope, or a dune. An early example of the surname is that of George Longden recorded in the Register of the University of Oxford in 1599, whilst Sir Henry Errington Longden (1819 - 1890) was a distinguished bearer of the name, achieving the rank of Lieutenant-general after a long and notable career with the army in India. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Aelfward aet Langadune. This was dated 1050 a.d., in the "Old English Bynames" list for the county of Worcestershire, during the reign of King Edward the Confessor, 1042 - 1066. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.