Cruden History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England
Scotland

Cruden is an ancient Anglo-Saxon surname that came from the baptismal name Cudbert. Baptismal names began to appear as surnames relatively late in the growth of the naming tradition. This is a little surprising, given the popularity of biblical figures in the Christian countries of Europe. Nevertheless, surnames derived from baptismal names grew in popularity during the Middle Ages, and have become one of the foremost sources for surnames.

Early Origins of the Cruden family

The surname Cruden was first found in Yorkshire, where they held a family seat from the Middle Ages.

Further to the north in Scotland, Cruden or Invercruden, is "a parish, in the district of Ellon, county of Aberdeen, 7 miles from Peterhead; containing, with the villages of Finnyfold or Whinnie-Fauld, Bullers-Buchan, and the Ward. This place was the scene of a memorable battle fought in the year 1005, upon a plain near the bay of Ardendraught, between Malcolm II. and the Danes under Canute, in which the latter, who had a castle in the neighbourhood, were totally defeated. " 1

Early History of the Cruden family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Cruden research. Another 63 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1379, 1545, 1546, 1589, 1592, 1676, 1699, 1701, 1737 and 1770 are included under the topic Early Cruden History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Cruden Spelling Variations

The English language only became standardized in the last few centuries; therefore,spelling variations are common among early Anglo-Saxon names. As the form of the English language changed, even the spelling of literate people's names evolved. Cruden has been recorded under many different variations, including Crewdson, Crowdson, Croudson, Cruden and others.

Early Notables of the Cruden family

Notables of the family at this time include

Alexander Cruden (1699-1770), was a Scottish author of an early concordance to the Bible, a proofreader and publisher, and self-styled Corrector of the nation's morals. 2 He was the "second son...

Cruden migration to the United States +

For many English families, the political and religious disarray that shrouded England made the far away New World an attractive prospect. On cramped disease-ridden ships, thousands migrated to those British colonies that would eventually become Canada and the United States. Those hardy settlers that survived the journey often went on to make important contributions to the emerging nations in which they landed. Analysis of immigration records indicates that some of the first North American immigrants bore the name Cruden or a variant listed above:

Cruden Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

John Cruden, who arrived in Virginia in 1792 3

Contemporary Notables of the name Cruden (post 1700) +

William H. Cruden, American Republican politician, Delegate to Illinois State Constitutional Convention 11th District, 1920-22; Candidate for Illinois State Senate 11th District, 1922 4
Damian Cruden, British Artistic Director of York Theatre Royal, perhaps best known for his production of Pygmalion, with Sarah Quintrell, June 2006
Aaron Cruden (b. 1989), New Zealand rugby union player who has earned 37 caps for the New Zealand All Blacks

Citations +

Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Black, George F., The Surnames of Scotland Their Origin, Meaning and History. New York: New York Public Library, 1946. Print. (ISBN 0-87104-172-3)
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, November 2) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html