Unusual family names

I guess many people who investigate their family tree – especially into the further reaches when names are just those fond on a census return or some sort of certificate without any knowledge of the person to whom they belonged – I have come across some very unusual names. You might think that might lead you to a link with someone else, but it isn’t always so. I guess people could call themselves anything they liked in the past and create new identities for themselves, and maybe that’s what happened with some of my ancestors.

1. Atton – Daniel Atton was my g-g–g-g-grandfather; for some reason his son who was my three times great-grandfather didn’t have the name Atton. I looked up the name – also recorded as Hatten, Hatton, Atten, this is either  English and could be from either Cheshire, Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Shropshire or Warwickshire which have a villages called Hatton  or it’s an Irish surname…. There is also a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France – so maybe granddad Daniel was French.
2. Blanden – my 5xg-grandmother Tomsin/Tomasin?Thamar/ Blanden married an Elsden. I can’t find out anything about the name or where it came from or other people who have it to whom I might be connected – there are people with that name on Facebook…
3. Burdett –  Wikipedia tells me that there have been three baronetcies created for persons with the surname Burdett, two in the Baronetcy of England and one in the Baronetcy of Ireland. As of 2008 two of the creations are extant while one is dormant…. so maybe Martha Burdett my ancestor was related to aristocracy… I don’t somehow think so!
4. Goody – that name takes me straight away to ‘The Thin Blue Line’ a comedy where Constable Kevin Goody was played by James Dreyfus. My g-g-g-g-grandmother, Frances Goody was married to an Elsden – she was Tomsin Blanden’s daughter-in-law
5. Goymer – described as ‘unusual and interesting name’, it may be Old English or Old french, or even an Old German first name… my ancestor Mary was my seven times great-grandmother, married to the first of three Robert Elsdens known in my family
6. Hasdell – I can’ find out anything bout this surname, except it is really unusual. Thomas Hasdell, my great-great-great grandfather was married to Kezia Treaton – who had another unusual name!
7. Hersey – this it seems is another Norman name, from a place named Hercé, and was the surname of my seven times great-grandmother Ann, who married William Blackman
8. Rance – and yes, this might be another name of Norman origin! Another Ann, Ann Rance who married Charles Bull
9. Treaton – Treaton is another name I can find nothing about – my searches keep deviating to Trenton!
10. Wilburn – is a Lincolnshire name, so my g-g-g-grandmother Amy Wilburn lived where the family originally came from. The ‘Wil’ part of the name not unexpectedly means well, and ‘burn’ is another name for spring.

This has not got me much further forward in my research, but it’s very interesting!