Recorded in several spellings including Lodden, Loden, Loddan, Loddon, Lohden, Lodine, and Louden, this is a locational surname which can be either Scottish or English. If the former it originates from a place called Loudoun in the district of Cunningham in the county of Ayrshire. Early examples of the surname recordings from this source include Nicholas de Loudoun, also recorded as Lowden, who held a tenement in the town of Irvine, and later Thomas Lowdain, who was a burgess at Irvine in 1499. It is also possible that the surname Louden, when recorded in Fife, is a mis-spelling of Lothian - a regional name from South Eastern Scotland. The English surname holders probably originate from the town of Loddon in Norfolk. Loddon is an Ancient British word pre-dating written history, and meaning "the dweller by the muddy river". Recordings in England include Stephen Lodden, at the church of St Maty Magdalene, Bermondsey, on April 25th 1602, and Mary Anne Lohden, who married John Lamey at St Leonards, Shoreditch, on August 10th 1846. The first recording of the family name is believed to be that of Jacobo de Loudun, of the lands of Loudoun, a charter witness in the year 1189. This was during the reign of King William, the Lion, of Scotland, 1165-1214. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.