This is an English locational surname. Recorded in several spellings including Barsdale, Bardwall, Beardsdale, Beardall, Birdall, and Berdale, it originates from either the village of Bardwell in the county of Suffolk, or as a topgraphical surname for a person who was resident by a spring or fresh stream (waella) on a bank or hillside. The village name is first recorded in the famous Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Beordewella' and later in the year 1197 as Berdewella. Locational surnames were usually "from" names. That is to say names given to people after they left their original village, to move somewhere else. The easiest way to identify such strangers was to call him, or sometimes her, by the name of the place from whence they came. Spelling being at best erratic, and local dialects very thick, often as with this surname, lead to the creation of variant or "sounds like" spellings. Early examples of the surname recordings taken from surviving church registers of the diocese of Greater London include those of Joane Berdale who married Francis Fielde at St. Lukes Chelsea in 1564, John Beardall christened at St. Mary Abchurch, in the city of London in 1617, and Kathe Birdall recorded at St. Giles Cripplegate in 1646. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Tedricus de Berdewella. This was dated 1190, in the Pipe Rolls of the county of Suffolk, during the reign of King Richard Ist known as 'Lionheart', 1189 - 1199. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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