Recorded as Claydon, Clayden, Claiden and Cleydon, this is an English surname It is locational and derives from any of various places in England called Claydon in the counties of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Suffolk. The three villages in Buckinghamshire were recorded as "Claindone" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and respectively as "Botle Cleidun, Est Cleydon" and "Middelcleydon" in the Feet of Fines for the county, dated 1242. The derivations are from the Olde English pre 7th century "claegen", meaning clayey soil, and "dun", a hill, whilst ; "Botolph" is from the Olde English word "botl", meaning a manor. Locational surnames, such as this, were originally given either to the local lord of the manor, or as a means of identification to those who left their birthplace to settle elsewhere. Early examples of the surname recordings taken from surviving church registers of the period include: Elizabeth, the daughter of William Claydon, who was christened at St. James' Church, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, on February 11th 1561, and Alice Cleydon who married Robertus Foxe at Ashdown, in Essex, on June 30th 1590. 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.

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