Recorded in the spellings of Lidden, Liddon, Lyddon and Lydden, this very interesting English locational surname is almost exclusively from Devon and Somerset, with a few name holders from the Kent village. The name means "the dweller at the place of the loud water", from Olde English pre 7th century "hlyde" meaning "loud" and in this context probably a waterfall, and "dun" - a hill or place on a hill. The village of Lydden, near Dover in the county of Kent, is still a prominent place, however the village of "Lyddon" which may have existed in the Somerset area, is either Lidden in Dorset, which seems likely, or is one of the five thousand or so now "lost" medieval villages and hamlets, of which the only remaining memory is the surviving surname. Early examples of the surname taken from surviving rolls and charters include Adam de Lyddone in Kirby's "History of Somerset" in 1328, whilst in 1543 Johanna Lydden of Whitstable, Kent, married John White, and in 1800 William Lyddon married Bessey Goldsmith at St. Georges chapel, Hanover Square, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John de Lyddone. which was dated 1273, in the Pipe Rolls of Somerset. This was during the reign of King Edward I, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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