Recorded as Croydon and sometimes Croyden, this is an English locational surname. There are a number of places called Croydon being no less than three in the county of Cambridgeshire, as well as the more famous or infamous Croydon in Surrey. All are truly ancient and certainly Croydon in Surrey was first recorded over one thousand years ago in the year 809 a.d. as Crogedena. The meaning of the place names seems to be open to argument, but perhaps the most logical are saffron valley from the pre 6th century "crog - denu", although crows valley or crows hill, are also possible. The surname could originate from any or all of these places, since like most locational surnames it is rarely to be found in its place of origin. When it is so found, it would suggest that it was probably the name of the local lord of the manor and his descendants as usually locational names are "from" names. These were names given as easy identification to people who had left their former home to move somewhere else. Croydon in Surrey was one of the first places to have a railway perhaps even before the more famous Stockton & Darlington. It was also the first place to have an international airport, although this was a pleasure that it seems to been happy to forgoe. The earliest recording that we have been able to find is that of William Croydon at the church of St Bololphs without Aldgate, in the city of London, on May 25th 1561.