Ledingham

This interesting name, widespread in Aberdeenshire from the late 16th Century, is believed to be of locational origin from a place in that county. The component elements of the name are either the old English pre 7th Century personal name Leoda, plus "ing(as)", people of, and "ham", a village or homestead; hence; "the homestead of leoda's people", or the old English "leat", a water conduit, "ing", "dwellers at", and "hamm", a flat-low lying meadow on a stream. It is interesting to note that the spellings Ledinghame and Lethringhame are recorded in MacDonald's "Place-names of West Aberdeenshire" in 1600 and 1644 respectively. In 1603 one, John Liddinghame in Cheppiltoune "was charged to underlie the law for assault". Isobell, daughter of George ledingham, was christened in Rayne, Aberdeen on August 31st 1679, and a George Ledingham was a member of the Gartly company of Volunteers in 1798. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of George Ledinghame of Auchinlek, which was dated 1574, "Records of the sheriff court of Aberdeenshire", during the reign of King James V1 of Great Britain, 1567 - 1625. 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.