Geddes
A Scottish surname most often taken from place names in Nairnshire, though some early writers also thought it may descend from an old personal name.
The #8,882 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 83,739 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is usually explained from Scottish place names such as Geddes in Nairnshire, with the family name then taken from that locality. Earlier surname scholars thought the place name itself may preserve a personal name, rather than a descriptive word. One speculative older note linked it to a Germanic element meaning “friend,” but that is less secure than the locational explanation.
History
Lower and Barber both connect Geddes with Scottish local names, especially in Nairnshire, and note related place forms such as Geddes-hill and Geddes-well. Harrison likewise treats it as tied to an estate in Nairnshire, while allowing that the local name may itself come from a personal name. The surname is therefore best understood as Scottish and toponymic, with a possible older underlying personal-name origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
One 19th-century source says the family of Geddes of Eachan in Peeblesshire were traditionally believed to have held their estate for 1,300 years, though such claims should be treated cautiously.
From the historical record
“wi^i = O.N. vin-r = O.E. wine, a friend] GEDDES. Mr. W. West, of Enniskillen, formerly of Nairn, tells me that there is an estate of this name in Nairnshire; but the local name may be from tlie pers. name. Qeikie 332”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)