This unusual name is a diminutive form of the medieval personal name 'Ode', in which other given names of several different origins have merged. These are mainly the Olde English pre 7th Century 'Od(d)a', Old Norse 'Od(d)a' and Germanic 'Odo or Otto'. The form 'Od(d)a' is a short form of compound names with the first element 'Ord or Odd' meaning 'point of a weapon'. The Germanic 'Odo and Otto' are again short forms of names beginning 'od', meaning prosperity, riches. There is some confusion in that all these names were Latinized as 'Odo', so modern-day variants such as 'Odd(e) and Ott', and diminutives such as 'Odlin(g) and Oddie' can derive from any of the three sources. 'Thomas Oldin' was christened at St. Pancras, Old Church in London on the 4th of December, 1692. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Robert Odelyn. which was dated 1250, Book of Fees for Norfolk. during the reign of King Henry III, The Frenchman, 1216 - 1272. 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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