I hadn't realised this thread was still ticking over as the theme seemed to have exhausted itself much earlier on. I just found it all again with the extra posted additions...the most spooky one being the link mentioning, around the time of the Domesday Book, the branching out of Hardings from Derbyshire to the village of Combe Martin, North Devon...
Out of the thousands of UK places to relocate our family in the early fifties, my parents chose of all places...Combe Martin. That is weird.
Although there appear to be a number of similar names - Hardy, Harden, etc, and their derivations, along with Harding, largely based on the description of physically fit folk (strong, hard), these differences in spelling don't seem to have any connection with Harding. Or maybe they do.
Although Harding is now recorded as being an English name, I suspect that this is because Hardings over time settled and regenerated themselves more in England than Scotland...
However, quoting one of the snippets of information at a link that someone has kindly provided 'The family name Harding emerged as a Scottish clan or family in this northern territory of Derbyshire where they were recorded as a family of great antiquity seated with manor and estates in that shire'.
...then further on followed the mention that some Hardings ended up in Combe Martin (including us!).
There must be thousands of Hardings in the world now who have descended from the original Vikings of the same name who settled in the northern extremeties of Scotland, and the idea and sentiment of that is good enough for me, for now.