Scottish. See Gordon (M) for details of the derivation.
A number of correspondents have reported the use of this name for girls in Scotland. One [HT] wrote:
"Gordon is extremely rare as a female name, but it is sometimes found in Scotland. One example was married and having children in Kincardineshire in the period around 1830-40."
Another correspondent [GB] has reported a gravestone to a female Gordon in Ellon, Aberdeenshireand also the spelling Gorden for a female on a memorial inscription in Old Keithall, Aberdeenshire. This would have been the family's preferred spelling although the death certificate recorded her name as Gordon. The spelling Gorden occurs occasionally for male names.
A correspondent [COS] has found the name used in successive generations in Stirlingshire in the early years of the 19th century with no known connection with Aberdeenshire, the traditional home of the Gordon family.
The 1841 Census of Aberdeenshire has a small number of occurrences of Garden as a forename of which just under half are female. It is probably a spelling variant of Gordon. |
