Surname migration

The Great Britain Family Names Profiler website allows you to find out where your surname comes from, and how many people share it. Bryden isn’t that common, but what interests me is the geographical spread. Even though the last century has been one of unprecedented mobility, there is still a clear concentration around southwest Scotland. My family and I are all diaspora, south of the Watford Gap.

Interestingly, Brydon is concentrated in southeast Scotland. The suffixes have different origins:

  • DEN at the end of the place name is usually derived from denn, which meant pasture, usually for pigs.
  • DON is usually derived from the word ‘dun’, which meant hill. The South Downs were the South Duns.

2 thoughts on “Surname migration”

Comments are closed.

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that I can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to my website and helping me to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

You can adjust all of your cookie settings by navigating the tabs on the left hand side.