Show ContentsWading History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Wading arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Wading family lived in Yorkshire, at Wadding.

Early Origins of the Wading family

The surname Wading was first found in Yorkshire where they are "perhaps the patronymical form of the Anglo-Saxon Wade." 1

Early History of the Wading family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Wading research. Another 74 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1066, 1086, 1581, 1588, 1591, 1644 and 1657 are included under the topic Early Wading History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Wading Spelling Variations

Anglo-Norman names tend to be marked by an enormous number of spelling variations. This is largely due to the fact that Old and Middle English lacked any spelling rules when Norman French was introduced in the 11th century. The languages of the English courts at that time were French and Latin. These various languages mixed quite freely in the evolving social milieu. The final element of this mix is that medieval scribes spelled words according to their sounds rather than any definite rules, so a name was often spelled in as many different ways as the number of documents it appeared in. The name was spelled Wadding, Wadden, Waddyng, Wading and others.

Early Notables of the Wading family

More information is included under the topic Early Wading Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Ireland Migration of the Wading family to Ireland

Some of the Wading family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 84 words (6 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Wading migration to the United States +

Because of the political and religious discontent in England, families began to migrate abroad in enormous numbers. Faced with persecution and starvation at home, the open frontiers and generally less oppressive social environment of the New World seemed tantalizing indeed to many English people. The trip was difficult, and not all made it unscathed, but many of those who did get to Canada and the United States made important contributions to the young nations in which they settled. Some of the first North American settlers with Wading name or one of its variants:

Wading Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • Phillip Wading, who arrived in Virginia in 1665 2
  • John Wading, who landed in Maryland in 1680 2


  1. Lower, Mark Anthony, Patronymica Britannica, A Dictionary of Family Names of the United Kingdom. London: John Russel Smith, 1860. Print.
  2. 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)


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