The surname of GODDEN was a baptismal name 'the son of Godwin' an early font name, although now long forgotten. The name was derived from the Old English word GODWINE, meaning a good friend and protector. The name was probably brought into England in the wake of the Norman Invasion of 1066. The name could possibly have meant one living near or in the same small community. Goduini (without surname) who was recorded in 1086, appears to be the first of the name on record, and Walter Godwin was recorded in the year 1219. Other records of the name mention Godin de Bech, 1273 County Cambridge. William Godwine of Yorkshire, was listed in the Yorkshire Poll Tax of 1379. William Goden, 1379, ibid. Gaudinus de Aseby, County Lincolnshire, during the reign of Edward III (1327-1377). The peak of the Himalayas (28,250 ft) high; believed to be the second highest in the world is known as Godwin Austen. Surnames as we know them today were first assumed in Europe from the 11th to the 15th century. They were not in use in England, or Scotland before the Norman Conquest of 1066, and were first found in the Domesday Book of 1086. The employment in the use of a second name was a custom that was first introduced from the Normans. They themselves had not long before adopted them. It became, in course of time, a mark of gentler blood, and it was deemed a disgrace for gentlemen to have but one single name, as the meaner sort had. It was not until the reign of Edward II (1307-1327) it became general practice amongst all people. Most of the European surnames in countries such as England, Scotland and France were formed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The process had started somewhat earlier and had continued in some places into the 19th century, but the norm is that in the tenth and eleventh centuries people did not have surnames, whereas by the fifteenth century most of the population had acquired a second name. The associated arms are recorded in Sir Bernard Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884. In the Middle Ages heraldry came into use as a practical matter. It originated in the devices used to distinguish the armoured warriors in tournament and war, and was also placed on seals as marks of identity. As far as records show, true heraldry began in the middle of the 12th century, and appeared almost simultaneously in several countries of Western Europe.
Arms registered in County Dorset
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