This interesting name, with variant forms Cardon, Carding and Carwardine, has two distinct possible origins, the first being a nickname from the Old French "cardon" meaning "thistle" and originally given to an obstinate or unapproachable person. The surname from this source is first recorded in the latter part of the 11th Century, (see below). One, Richard Cardun was noted in the 1121 "Records of Bury St. Edmunds", Suffolk. The second possibility is that the name is of English locational origin from a place in Cheshire called Carden. Recorded as Kawrdin circa 1235 in "A History of the County of Chester", and as Cawardyn in 1302, the place was so called from the Olde English pre 7th Century "carr", a rock, plus "worthign", an enclosure or homestead. One, Richard de Carwardyn was noted in "Accounts of the Chamberlains of Chester" in 1302, and on June 26th 1591 Caterine Carden, an infant, was christened in St. John the Baptist, Chester. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Cardon, which was dated 1086, in the "Domesday Book", during the reign of King William 1, known as "The Conqueror", 1066 - 1087. 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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