Harden
Usually a locational surname, originally meaning someone from a place called Harden, likely “hard/rocky hill” or “stony valley.”
The #1,322 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 11,600 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Harden is best explained as a place-name surname. The first element is likely Old English heorð or heard in the sense of “hard, rough, stony,” though older writers also linked it with local place names such as Harden in Northumberland, Roxburghshire, or other English settlements. In broad terms, the name probably meant a dwelling place on hard ground, a rocky hill, or a rough valley.
History
The historical excerpts connect the surname with Harden Castle in Roxburghshire and with local families in northern England, which fits the normal pattern of a surname taken from residence near a place called Harden. Bardsley and Lower both treat it as a local name, and later authors repeat the association with the Scotts of Harden. The surname is now established in Britain and, through migration, in the United States and elsewhere.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The name is often linked in older sources with Harden Castle, the Border stronghold of the Scotts of Harden in Roxburghshire.
From the historical record
“found in the records of the family. They residedat Harden HaU, near Stockport, and are reputed to have been an early branch of Ihe War- wickshire Ardemes ; v. East Cheshire, i. iGi.”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances