Recorded in several spelling forms including Good, Goode, Gudd, and Gudde, this is an early medieval English surname, but of pre 7th century Olde English origins. It has two possible origins. The first is from a nickname for a "good" person. This was someone who was pious and respected, although given the robust Chaucerian humour of the medieval period, possibly the reverse! Derived from the ancient word "god" meaning good, there are several popular surnames that include "good" as the first element, including Goodbody and Goodfellow. The second source for the surname is from a medieval personal name, either "Goda", a man's name, or "Gode", a woman's, both deriving from the ancient "god". Early examples of the the surname recordings taken from the surviving registers of the diocese of Greater London are those of Henrie Goode and Elizabeth Harrison, who were married on July 14th 1555, at the church of St. Mildred Poultry in the city of London, and the christening of John, the son of Thomas Good, on November 23rd 1562, at Christchurch Greyfriars. Thomas Good, of the now "lost" village of Old Sarum near the city of Salisbury, in Wiltshire, was an early emigrant to the developing colonies of America. He left Southampton on the ship "Bevis" in May 1638, bound for Virgina. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Gilbert le Gode. This was dated 1213, in the "Curia Regis" rolls of the county of Berkshire, during the reign of King John of England, 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes 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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