GUDGEON
The surname Gudgeon is an English family name whose earliest known form appears within the medieval period. The form of the name can be traced back to a fish of local significance, as the origins are tied to a small freshwater fish known as the gudgeon.
The derivation of Gudgeon is found in Middle English, where the word gogion referred specifically to a gudgeon fish. It is plausible that the name began as a nickname for a person exhibiting small or agile qualities akin to that fish, or as an occupational identifier for someone engaged in fishing or the sale of gudgeon fish.
Historical records indicate that the surname entered England following the Norman Conquest of 1066, where the French word goujon—the name for a readily caught fish—was imported into the English linguistic milieu. It is first documented in a 1206 entry for Peter Guggun within the Curia Regis rolls of Lancashire during the reign of King John (1199–1216). Subsequent 13th‑century records include Robert Gugiun in the Curia Regis rolls of 1221, and Henry Gojun in the Subsidy Tax Rolls of Staffordshire that same year.
Throughout the following centuries variations of the surname proliferated. Surname spellings recorded in surviving church registers include Simon Gudgin (married at Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, 11 June 1635), John Gudgion (christened at St. James, Clerkenwell, London, 23 February 1651), and Peter Gudgeone (married at St. James, Clerkenwell, London, 25 November 1652). A later example is Elizabeth Gudgeon christened at St. Michaels, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, 12 January 1783.
These examples demonstrate that the surname persisted in multiple geographical areas across England, commonly appearing in Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and in the City of London. The name is thus a relic of medieval wildlife begging for a designation born from a small fish, noising a name that has survived through time.
Typical given names associated with the Gudgeon surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- Gj
- Graeme
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
- Tim
Female
- Deborah
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Jean
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Mary
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
- Cagen
- Cagin
- Cajone
- Cogen
- Cogin
- Cojan
- Cojanu
- Cojeen
- Coogen
- Cougin
- Cugini
- Gadgen
- Gagen
- Gagiano
- Gagin
- Gajan
- Gaygen
- Gjana
- Gjini
- Gjoni
- Gogin
- Goodgen
- Goodgion
- Gougeon
- Goujon
- Gudgeion
- Gudgen
- Gudgeons
- Gudgin
- Gudgion
- Gudgon
- Gudgson
- Gugen
- Kagen
- Kajan
- Kajani
- Keagen
- Keegen
- Keegin
- Kegin
- Kogen
- Kojan
- Koujan
- Quagen
- Quijana
- Quijano
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Gudgeon in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 1,659 people named Gudgeon in the UK. That makes it roughly the 4,931st most common surname in Britain. Around 25 in a million people in Britain are named Gudgeon.
Famous people named Gudgeon
- Kéllé Bryan-Gudgeon - Singer and actor
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.