HAYDEN Family History
This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is a locational name from one of the various places in England called Heydon and Haydon. Haydon in Dorset, recorded as "Heidon" in the 1201 Feet of Fines, in Somerset, recorded as "Haegdun" in the Early Saxon Chronicles (1046), and in Wiltshire recorded as "Haydon" in the 1242 Book of Fees, all derive from the Olde English pre 7th Century "Heg", hay (or perhaps "hege", hedge, or "(ge)haeg", enclosure) with "dun", down, hill, mountain; hence "hay down".