This unusual name is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a variant form of the locational surname 'Burdale', which derives from the place so called in East Yorkshire, near the city of York. The place name is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Bredhalle', and in the 1202 'Feet of Fines' for Yorkshire as 'Bredall'. The name means '(place of) the hall made of boards', derived from the Old English pre 7th Century 'bred, bord', board, with 'hall, heall', hall, also 'building for worship' or 'building used as a court of law'. Locational surnames were usually given to the lord of the manor and especially to those former inhabitants who moved to another area, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. The marriage of Katherine Burdell and Robert Broune was recorded at St. Martin's, Coney Street, York, on May 19th 1622. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Grace Bordall (christening), which was dated July 31st 1586, Halifax, Yorkshire, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, '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.

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