Explore the Family Name Uden

The meaning of Uden

1. German: patronymic from the personal name Udo (see Ude). 2. English (Kent): perhaps from the rare Middle English female personal name Eudon, recorded in 14th-century Kent. It is a derivative of the Old French male personal name Eude (ancient Germanic Eudo, see Udy). Alternatively, it might be from one or other of the Old French male personal names Udin (a French pet form of ancient Germanic Udo; see Ude) or Eudin (a French pet form of ancient Germanic Eudo), although neither is known to have been current in Middle English. Definite evidence for the French personal name Udin in England is recorded only in late medieval and early modern Cornwall, where it occurs as both a forename and a surname among Breton migrants. The surname is rare in France and is chiefly found in Ille-et-Vilaine (Brittany). In Cornwall it seems not to have survived beyond the 18th century, but descendants of the Cornish Breton families may have migrated to Kent through the coastal trade, or other Bretons with the surname may have migrated there directly from Brittany, though this is pure conjecture.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.