This interesting name with variant spellings Wademan and Wodeman has two possible origins, both occupational. The first and most likely origin is the Olde English pre 7th Century "wad", meaning "woad" i.e. a blue dye obtained from a European cruciferous plant, plus "mann", a man, hence "Woadman" or "Woad-merchant" i.e. a dyer with, or seller of woad. The surname from this source is first recorded towards the end of the 13th Century, (see below). A variant spelling Wodeman appears in the 1297 "Subsidy Rolls of Sussex". Alternatively, the name may be ocupational for a servant of Wade, itself coming from the Olde English personal name Wada, meaning "to go". The suffix "man(n)", when attached to a personal name, translates as "servant of ". A William Wadman appears on record in Yorkshire in 1417. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Symon le Wademan, which was dated 1296, The Pipe Rolls of Norfolk, during the reign of King Edward I, 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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