GORDON

Gurtduine, Gaelic, a fierce man; Gwrddyn, Welsh, a strong man; Cawrdyn, Welsh, a hero, a giant. Some have derived the Gordons from Gordinia, in Thessaly; others say they are descendants of the Gorduni mentioned by Cæsar in his Commentaries. The name appears to be local, and may be derived from a town in France of that name, in the Department of Lot. It signifies in Gaelic the round hill, or the hill that surrounds, from Gour, round, and dun, a hill or fort.

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

GORDON. According to some genealogists this name is derived from Gordonia, a town in IMacedonia : according to others from a manor in Normandy — origins literally too " far-fetched," since the parish of Gordon, in Berwickshire, where we find the family located at an early date, is its tiaie source. " Thei-e is a nice little romance to the tune of making the founder of the family a certain Bertrand de Gourdon, who shot Eichard the Lion-Hearted at Chaluz. According to history, this Gourdon was a common archer, who ha\nng been brought before the d3'iug monarch was forgiven by him, and ordered to be libci"ated with a handsome present ; but the Flemish general, who had no notion of such generosity, very coolly ordered him to bo Hayed alive. Hoav, after such an operation, he could get into Scotland we are nottold." N. and Q., Nov. 1, 185(;. The cheerfulness of this family is exhibited in the proverb, The Gay Gordoxs.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.