Oden
An old surname that may go back to the god Odin/Woden, or to an early personal name built from that element.
The #4,315 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 37,469 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Oden is usually explained as a surname from an old personal name based on Odin/Woden, the chief god in Germanic mythology. Lower explicitly linked it with Odin/Wodin, and later writers treated Oden and Odin as related forms found in early English records. In some cases it may simply preserve a medieval given name rather than a direct mythological reference in the family line.
History
The name appears to have been present in England very early, with Domesday evidence cited for forms like Odin and Odinus. 19th-century surname writers also noted examples of Oden and Odin in later records, suggesting that the name survived in several spellings and could arise independently in different places. Because the form is brief and old, some bearers may descend from an ancient personal name rather than from a single common family branch.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A Domesday Book tenant in Cheshire is cited in the older literature as Odin, showing how far back this name may reach in English records.
From the historical record
“D'Alton. ODEN. Tlie Odin or Wodin of the Teu- tonic mythology, the father of the Gods and the jDrogenitor of ancient kings. The name was in England at the time of the Conquest or before, for Odin appears as a Domesday tenant in Cheshire, and Odinus in Wiltshire. A Ric'Odyn is found in H.E. O'DE VLIN. A branch of…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom