Geddes (surname)

Geddes (UK: /ˈɡɛdɪs/ GHED-iss, US: /ˈɡɛdiːz/ GHED-eez)[1] is a surname of English and Scottish origin. In Scotland and northern Ireland the name may be derived from the place-name Geddes in Nairn, Scotland. The Dictionary of American Family Names claims that the surname is more likely a patronymic name derived from the name Geddie,[2] itself perhaps an altered form of MacAdam. In this way, the letter G represents the Scottish Gaelic mac "son of" and Eddie is a variant of Adam. Geddie may also be a nickname meaning "greedy", derived from gedd meaning "pike", this could also refer to a voracious eater.[3] The earliest written record of the surname Geddes is of William Ged, from Shropshire, England, recorded within the Pipe Rolls in the year 1230.[4] The surname Geddes can be represented in Scottish Gaelic as Geadasach and Geadais.[5][6]

For other uses, see Geddes (disambiguation).

It has also been suggested that Geddes (Geadais in Scottish Gaelic) is an earlier Gaelic spelling for Cádiz, [7] an ancient and important seaport in southern Spain (Latin Gādēs). This proposal for the origin of the surname Geddes is based on several lines of evidence connecting people and place names in Scotland with Jewish trading routes to France and Spain.

Surname

Given name
  • Geddes Granger, also known as Makandal Daaga, Trinidad and Tobago political activist and former revolutionary
  • Geddes Rodgers, Artist Castlemaine Australia

See also

References
  1. Jones, Daniel (2006). Roach, Peter; Hartman, James; Setter, Jane (eds.). "Geddes". Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (17th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 210. ISBN 0-521-68086-7.
  2. "Geddes Name Meaning and History". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 14 December 2008. This webpage cites Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4.
  3. "Geddie Name Meaning and History". Ancestry.com. Retrieved 14 December 2008. This webpage cites Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4.
  4. Reaney, Percy Hilde; Wilson, Richard Middlewood (2006). A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.). London: Routledge. p. 1295. ISBN 0-203-99355-1.
  5. Mac an Tàilleir, Iain. "Ainmean Pearsanta" (docx). Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  6. Mark, Colin (2003). The Gaelic-English Dictionary. Routledge. ISBN 0-203-27706-6.
  7. Hirschman, Elizabeth Caldwell (2007). When Scotland was Jewish : DNA evidence, archeology, analysis of migrations, and public and family records show twelfth century Semitic roots. Donald N. Yates. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co. ISBN 978-0-7864-2800-7. OCLC 84838483.
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