Recorded in various forms including: Filde, Fildes, Files and Fyldes, this is an English surname of medieval origins. It is locational and regional, deriving from the district of Lancashire known as "The Fylde Coast", of which the town of Blackpool is the largest constituent part. Where the surname appears in a plural form this is genitive, and describes one who is a dweller at that place, rather than is more usual with locational names, a person who is from that place. Locational and residential surnames as a group form the largest segment in the British surnames listings, and are usually the oldest, dating from as early as the 12th century. This surname is a good example with one Dike del Filde appearing in the Assize Rolls of the county of Lancashire in the year 1281. Rather later examples taken from the various surviving wills and charter records of the post medieval period include: Alice Fyldes, given as being a widow in the parish of Eccles in 1574, and Thomas Fildes, also recorded as Fyldes, of Pendlebury, Cheshire, in the Wills Register at the city of Chester in 1604. The word fylde originates from the Olde English pre 7th century gefilde, meaning a plain, which given the flatness of the area, is wholly appropriate.

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