Recorded in a number of spellings all rare, and including Gladdor, Glader, Gladyer, Gleder, Gleader, Glider, Glidder, Gliddier, Gludor, and probably others, this is an English surname. It is appears to be from pre 7th century Olde English word 'Glida' used as a personal name. This name actually means 'kite' as in the bird, not a tethered flying object., and appears in a number of place names such as Gleadless, Gledhill and Gledholt in Yorkshire, and Gleadthorpe in Nottinghamshire. The associated number of spellings of this name suggests that a place in the spelling of one the surname spellings must have existed somewhere in the British Isles, but if so we have been unable to locate any such place. This is not entirely unusual some five thousand vilages and even small towns have disappeared from the maps of the past five centuries. Locational surnames were usually 'from' names. That is to say names given to people after they left their original homes to move somewhere else. Spelling being at the best indifferent and local dialects very thick, often lead to the creation of 'sounds like' spellings. In this case we have a number of quite early recordings including John Gleder who married Dorothy Gyles at the church of St Mary Somerset, in the city of London, on January 11th 1565, and Roger Glidder who married Elizabeth Hosgood at Northam in Devonshire, on November 7th 1631.

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