This name is of English locational origin either from Bradden in Northamptonshire or from the Braddons a range of heights in South Devon. The former, recorded as Bradene in the Domesday Book of 1086 derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "brade-denu" meaning "broad valley". The surname from this source is first recorded towards the end of the 13th Century - William de (of) Bradden, the Hundred Rolls of Northampton in 1298. The surname Braddon with variant spellings Bradden is particularly well recorded in Devonshire Church Registers from the mid 16th Century, (see below). On May 21st 1576, Robert Braddon married an Elizabeth Venton in Bradworthy and on November 27th 1623, Humfre Bradden, an infant was christened in Sutcombe, Devonshire. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Steven Braddon married Alice Bellew, which was dated September 27th 1563 in Braunton, Devonshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Good Queen Bess, 1558 - 1603. 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.