Jurden History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• England
• Ireland

The Jurden name comes from the Gaelic Mac Siúrtáin. It was adopted by one a Connacht family who came to Ireland with the Norman invasion of 1172. Ultimately, Jurden is derived from the name of the river Jordan, "Yarden" in Hebrew. The name first became popular in Europe as a personal name during the Crusades when it was a common practice for Crusaders to bring back vials containing the waters of this river to use in the baptism of their children.

Early Origins of the Jurden family

The surname Jurden was first found in Normandy where the name there was recorded as Jordanus as in the listing of Richard, Rovert and William Jordanus in 1998. ^[1]

An earlier branch of the family came to Ireland with the "English invaders" in 1168 and at that time were known as De Exeter because they came from Exonia or Exeter in England. They accompanied Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, in his invasion of Ireland, and acquired lands from King John the English King. In order to assume Irish patronymics, the name was changed to MacJordan after Jordan De Courcy (Jordan Teutonicus) who died in 1197.

As to underline this origin, the learned Edward MacLysaght, noted "Mac Siurtáin A Gaelic patronymic adopted by the d' Exeter family-one of those which acquired estates in Connacht after the Anglo-Norman invasion; it was later called MacJordan's country." ^[2]

Another Chief Herald of Ireland, O'Hart quotes: "The De Exonias or De Exeters submitted to be called MacJordans, from one Jordan De Exonia, who was the first founder of the family." The family rose to become Lords of Athleathan, in the Barony of Gallen, and County of Mayo. ^[3]

Important Dates for the Jurden family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Jurden research. Another 83 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1641 and 1652 are included under the topic Early Jurden History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Jurden Spelling Variations

During the lifetime of an individual person, his name was often spelt by church officials and medieval scribes the way it sounded. An examination of the many different origins of each name has revealed many spelling variations for the name: Jordan, Jordane, Jordain, Jordaine, Jourdan, Jourdane, Jorden, Jurden, Jurdon, MacShurtan, MacJordan, MacShurton, MacShurdane, MacShurtaine,McShurtan, McJordan, McShurton, McShurdane and many more.

Early Notables of the Jurden family (pre 1700)

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

Jurden migration to the United States

Ireland's Great Potato Famine left the country's inhabitants in extreme poverty and starvation. Many families left their homeland for North America for the promise of work, freedom and land ownership. Although the Irish were not free of economic and racial discrimination in North America, they did contribute greatly to the rapid development of bridges, canals, roads, and railways. Eventually, they would be accepted in other areas such as commerce, education, and the arts. An examination of immigration and passenger lists revealed many bearing the name Jurden:

Jurden Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

• Stephen Jurden, who sailed to New England in 1633
• Stephen Jurden, who landed in America in 1633 ^[4]

Contemporary Notables of the name Jurden (post 1700)

• Samuel W. Jurden, American Republican politician, Delegate to Republican National Convention from Missouri, 1896 ^[5]
• Jan R. Jurden, American Democrat politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Delaware, 1996 ^[5]

Citations

1. ^ The Norman People and Their Existing Descendants in the British Dominions and the United States Of America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1975. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0636-X)
2. ^ MacLysaght, Edward, Irish Families Their Names, Arms and Origins 4th Edition. Dublin: Irish Academic, 1982. Print. (ISBN 0-7165-2364-7)
3. ^ O'Hart, John, Irish Pedigrees 5th Edition in 2 Volumes. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1976. Print. (ISBN 0-8063-0737-4)
4. ^ 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)
5. ^ The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 28) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html