Flode

This interesting surname with spellings Flood, Floud, Flade, Fludd, Flude, Floyd, Floyde, Floyed, and others, has two possible origins. The first is English and topographical for someone who lived by a small stream or an intermittent spring. The derivation is from the pre 7th century word "flode", from flowan meaning to flow. The second possible origin is a dialectal variant of the Welsh name Lloyd, itself a nickname for a person with grey hair or one who habitually dressed in grey. Lloyd is from the ancient Welsh word llwyd meaning grey. Early examples of recordings include Roger Flod in the Documents illustrative of the Social and Economic History of the Danelaw, in the year 1199, and John de la Flade in the Hundred Rolls of Hampshire in 1273. Early church recordings include Frauncis Floode who was christened on November 8th 1542, at St. Michael Bassishaw, in the city of London, and Rodger Flode who married Anne Pratte on April 28th 1576 at St. Margaret's Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Wigot de la Flode, which was dated 1198, in the Pipe Rolls of Berkshire, during the reign of King Richard 1st known as The Lionheart, 1189 - 1199. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.