Verdin
A French surname meaning “little green” or “of Verdun,” depending on the family line.
The #6,200 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 55,983 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This name is usually explained as either a diminutive of Old French verd, meaning “green,” or as a surname connected with Verdun/Verdon place-names. In the first sense, it combines verd with the diminutive suffix -in, giving the idea of “greenish” or “little green.” In the second, it points to a Norman/French locational surname ultimately tied to a place name built on a Celtic word for a hill or hill-fort and a root meaning “green.”
History
Harrison treats Verdin as a French form built from verd plus the diminutive ending -in, while Bardsley’s English records show the surname in London in the early 1800s. The name also appears beside Verdun/Verdon in Norman and French surname lists, suggesting that some bearers may descend from place-based lines rather than from a descriptive nickname. In the United States it is uncommon but established, with several thousand bearers recorded in the 2010 census.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same green-colored root behind Verdin also lies behind French vert and Latin viridis.
From the historical record
“verd, green ; Lat. virid-is^ VERDIN (A.-Fr.-Lat.) = Verd (q.v.) -1- the dim. suff. -in [Lat. -in-us^ VERDON 1 (A.-Fr.-Celt.) Bel. to Verdon, Ver- VERDUN ) dun, fairly common French place- names = the Green Hill (-Fort [the Gaul. cogn. of Wei. gwyrdd = Corn, guirt (allied to Fr. vert, O.Fr. verd, Lat. virid-is)…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)