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Hi
Was thinking that you might still be helping people with this surname origins.
I'm wondering if my relatives are actually Irish....
Smyth
McLean
Jardin
Thanking you for being so helpful to everybody
Karen
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Last name: Jardin
This interesting name is of Old French origin, introduced into England and Scotland by the Normans, after the Conquest of 1066. It may be either a topographical or an occupational surname, derived in both cases from the central Old French "jardin", garden. As a topographical name, Jardin(e) denoted residence by or near a garden, and as an occupational name, a worker at a garden. During the Middle Ages the gardener implied by this term was likely to be a cultivator of edible produce in an orchard or kitchen garden, rather than one who tended ornamental lawns and flower beds. The surname is first recorded in Scotland, as below, and appears in England in 1296, when Matilda atte Jardin is listed in the Sussex Subsidy Rolls. The modern forms are Jardin, Jardine, Jerde(i)n, Jerdan and Jerdon. An interesting namebearer was James Jardine (1776 - 1858), an engineer, who constructed the Union Canal and was the first to determine the mean level of the sea. A Coat of Arms granted to a Jardine family of Edinburgh depicts, on a white shield, on a red saltire five bezants, on a chief, red, three gold mullets. The Crest is a hand holding a bezant all proper, and the Motto, "Ex virtute honos", translates "Honour from virtue". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Winfredus de Jardine, which was dated circa 1150, charter witness in records of the Abbeys of Kelso and Arbroath, during the reign of David 1, King of Scotland, 1124 - 1153. 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.
Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Jardin#ixzz3Q7FsoCkA
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Last name: McClean
This notable surname, with spellings of MacLean, Maclean, MacLaine, McLean, McClean, Mccleane, McLane, and many, many, more, is widely recorded in Scotland and Ireland. It is an Anglicized form of the Old Scots Gaelic "MacGille Eoin", son of the devotee of (St.) John, from "Mac", son of, "gille", literally translating as "(man) servant, attendant", but used here in the transferred sense of "devotee", and the saint's name "Eoin", the classic Gaelic form of "John", now widely replaced by "Iain". John derives ultimately from the Hebrew "Yochanan", Jehovah has favoured me (with a son). In Gaelic genealogical manuscripts, dated 1467, the name is spelt "Gilleain", and in the M'Vurich Manuscripts as "Giolla-eoin": the "l" is now all that remains of "gille". John and Neil, sons of Gilhon, were mentioned in the 1326 Exchequer Rolls of Scotland, the date at which the surname was also first recorded (below). Further early recordings include: Nigel M'Gillon, custodian of the Castle of Scraburgh (1329), and Walter Malynne (Maclean), abbot of Glenluce, 1517 - 1545. The Macleans connection with Ireland began with their employment by the MacDonnels of Ulster as gallowglasses or mercenary soldiers in the 15th Century. In Ireland, the name was Anglicized as "MacGiolla Eain", or "MacGiolla Eoin". Notable bearers of the name were John Maclean, son of the laird of Dowart, who was ennobled by Queen Christina of Sweden in 1649, Sir John Maclean (1811 - 1895), archaeologist, and keeper of ordnance records in the Tower of London, 1855 - 1861, and Sir Donald McLean, 1820 - 1877, the first minister and statesman of New Zealand. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Dofnald M'Gilhon, whose ship made a circuit of "le Mole" (Mull), which was dated 1327, in the "Exchequer Rolls of Scotland", during the reign of King Robert 1 "Bruce" of Scotland, 1306 - 1329. 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.
Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/McClean#ixzz3Q7G435Ra
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Last name: Smyth
This is a surname of the British Isles. Recorded as Smy, Smye, Smyth, Smythe, Smithe and Smith, it derives from the Anglo-Saxon word "smitan" meaning to smite, which could be a description of a smith, but would equally have applied to a soldier. The famous records of those ancient times known as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles of the 9th century use the expression War-Smith to describe a particularly valiant warrior, a suggestion that there was a duality of purpose in the later surname. Over five hundred coats of arms have been granted to nameholders called Smith, perhaps another indication of the warrior background. Although today the surname in its different forms represents about one in seventy of all persons with a British background, mathematically this ratio should be nearer to thirty to one. The shortfall is perhaps explained by the fact that many persons now called Black, White, Green or Brown formerly had the suffix "smith", and were workers in iron, tin, copper or bronze. Amongst the many interesting records of this surname is that of Arthur Smyth who was one of the very earliest settlers in the colonies of New England. He is recorded as being a resident of "Elizabeth Cittie" in Virginia in 1624, having arrived in the ship Margaret and John of London, in 1622. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Eaceard Smid, which was dated circa 975, in the English Surname Register for County Durham, during the reign of King Edward, known as "The Martyr", 975 - 979, A.D. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
Read more: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Smyth#ixzz3Q7GDIfLR
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Thank you Ann. Very interesting. I am always amazed to see how much information is recorded about us... Even in the 1600 you could be on some list or other...
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