This name derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century 'glaed' meaning 'glad' plus 'mann', a man, and was originally given either as a descriptive nickname to a jolly cheerful person or as an occupational name to the servant of one called Glad. The suffix 'man', when attached to a nickname has augmentative force, and when conjoined with the master's personal name meant 'servant of'. The recording 'Glademanus' in the Domesday Book of 1086 for Suffolk suggests that if may have initially been a personal name. The surname first appears in the early half of the 14th Century, (see below). On September 17th 1564 Agnis Gladman, an infant, was christened in St. Lawrence Jewry and St. Mary Magdalene's, Milk Street, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William Gladman, which was dated 1327 - 'The Subsidy Rolls of Yorkshire', during the reign of King Edward III, The Father of the Navy, 1327 - 1377. 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.

© Copyright: Name Origin Research 1980 - 2024