This interesting and unusual name is a variant of the surname Bradden, which is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and is locational from a place called Bradden in Northamptonshire. The placename is derived from the Olde English pre 7th Century "brade", broad, and "denu", a valley, thus a "broad valley". Locational surnames were developed when former inhabitants of a place moved to another area, usually to seek work, and were best identified by the name of their birthplace. The placename is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Bradene"; as "Braenden" in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in 1186; as "Bradden" in the Book of Fees in 1220; and as "Braddene" in the Episcopal Registers of 1230. The modern surname can be found recorded as Braiden, Bradden, Braddon and Braden. The christening was recorded in London of Ann, daughter of Thomas and Ann Braiden, on March 22nd 1741 at St. Faith under St. Paul. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Bradden, which was dated 1298, in the "Writs of Parliament for Northamptonshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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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