Recorded in England as Laden, Laiden, Ladon, Layden, Laydon, Laddon, Leyden, and others, and in German speaking countries as Laden, Ladenmann, and compounds such as Ladenburger, Ladenhund, this is a surname of several possible origins. It is one of the many that may be spelt the same, but can mean something quite different in different regions or countries. In both Germany and England as Laden it originally described a shopkeeper, with Ladenmann being the servant or manager of the shopkeeper, but as a compound such as Ladenhund, the prefix Laden must have originally meant something quite different. To add to the complication the English spellings such as Ladon, Layden or Layden for instance, may have derived from Laden, but are more likely to be from a now "lost" medieval village, or even from one of the places called Layton or Leyton, found in several parts of England. They mean the settlement by the stream. The earliest known place recordings are in England in the famous Domesday Book of 1086, and in Germany in the 13th century. Examples of the surname recordings include Werner der Laden of Mohringen in 1386, Kathrin Ladenmann of Oberndorf in 1410, and in England Thomas Laitone of York in 1581, and Mary Laden at St Dunstans in the East, Stepney, city of London, on August 1st 1671.

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