This name is of northern English or Scottish locational origin from a place in the West Riding of Yorkshire called Snowden or from the lands of Snawdone in the bailliary of Lawderdaill. Both places derive their name from the Old English pre 7th Century 'Snaw' meaning 'snow', plus 'dun' a hill or mountain or a hill where snow lay for long periods. The name is well recorded under the various spellings which include Snawdon, Snawden, Snowden, Sneden, Snaden, Snaddin, Snaddon, and others. Examples of recordings taken at random from surviving church registers include that on May 16th 1666, of Mary, the daughter of William Snaden, who was christened at All Saints church, Wakefield, in Yorkshire, whilst in Scorland for example we have the birth of William Snadden at West Calder, in Midlothian, on January 13th 1871. One of the earliest recordings is that of Alicia Snawdon who married Georgius Haggiston, at Wensley, in Yorkshire, on May 19th 1544. This was during the reign of King Henry V111th of England and known to his contempories as 'Bluff King Hal', 1509 - 1547. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was sometimes known as the Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.