This unusual surname, found particularly well recorded in Devon and Cornwall, is a diminutive of Adam, which is derived from the Hebrew personal name "Adam". The name was borne, according to Genesis, by the first man, and is of uncertain etymology, but it is often said to be from the Hebrew "adama", earth, from the Greek legend that Zeus fashioned the first human beings from earth. It was very popular as a given name among non-Jews throughout Europe in the Middle Ages. The personal name was first recorded as "Adam" in the "Documents illustrative of the Social and Economic History of the Danelaw" (1146 - 1153, Lincolnshire), and the surname was first recorded in the Assize Rolls of Cheshire of 1281 with Alianor Adam. The modern diminutives of Adam include Adkin, Atkin, Adcock, Atcock, Addie, Addy, Adye, Haddy and Hadye. Recorded in English Church Registers were the christening of Agntta, daughter of William Haddy, on September 14th 1579 at Quethiock, Cornwall, and the marriages of Christopher Haddy and Elizabeth Carter, on May 27th 1672, at Whimple, Devon, and of Sampson Haddy and Ann Daw, on January 30th 1681, at St. Cleer's, Cornwall. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John Haddy, which was dated 1273, in the "Hundred Rolls of Bedfordshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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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