Anyone have any info on the name COWDEN?

[celticpride]

was curious if anyone had any information on this name ?

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

About the only thing I can think of is that "cowden" is derived from the Scots-gaelic "colltuinn", which is the word for "hazel". Now it may be that as a surname it was adopted by persons living in the Barony of Cowdenknowes, (www.cowdenknowes.com) but that may be a reach too far.

[ExDragoon]

My wife's uncle is a Cowden who came over from Scotland as part of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan. He came back after the war and hasn't left since. Most of his family are in Ontario and I'll see if I can't put you in contact with them if this would be any good to you.

[celticpride]

if you can make it happen i would very much like to talk with him and compare what information i have to what he may know. just let me know. thank you

[MacRobert's Reply]

Rathdown's speculation seems reasonable. In the past, when people moved out of an area, they often became known by the region they came from. For example, John from Kelso would become John Kelso. Another candidate may be Cowdenbeath, meaning 'birch woods' in the Gaelic. Cowdenbeath is a town and burgh in the Kingdom of Fife.

[ExDragoon]

I just heard back from my wife's cousin Tom. He told me to let you know that if you hit Facebook and look up Cowden Clan, you'll meet many Cowdens and get lots of information.
Karl

[celticpride]

i am actually a member of that group allready... what is his name on there i might have spoken to him?

[ExDragoon]

He would be Tom Cowden from Hamilton,ON. He told me to pass on to you that you can track him down through Facebook as well.
Happy hunting...
Karl

[Woot22]

I have posted this link before but if you have not used it then its kind of fun.
http://worldnames.publicprofiler.org/Main.aspx
The top three cities for the surname Cowden were Belfast N. Ireland followed by Glasgow and Paisley Scotland. Have fun!!