Borden
Usually a place-based surname, often meaning someone from Borden or a similar named locality.
The #2,352 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,919 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Borden is generally treated as a locational surname, from a place-name such as Borden in Kent or Bordean in Hampshire. The name has been explained as referring to a "hill" or a "fertile hill," with some older writers connecting it with local topography and Old English place-name elements. In a few contexts, especially in Cornish material, similar forms have also been linked to a meaning like "fruitful hill."
History
The surname appears in English records in several forms and was attached to families taking their names from different places called Borden or Bordean. It later spread beyond England, including to North America. Because the same surname can arise from more than one locality, some bearers may have different local origins.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source connects Borden with a Cornish place-name and interprets it as "the fruitful hill."
From the historical record
“Bora^s-doUy the hill of Bora. BORDEN. From bor-den, the fat, t. e, fruitful, hill. BORDENY. From Bordeney Abbey in St. Cleather ; from bor-den-y, the fruitful hill by the river. BORDINNER. See Bodinnar. BORLASE, BORLAS. From Borkse, in the parish of 12 PATRONTMICA”
— Patronymica Cornu-Britannica; or, the etymology of Cornish surnames