Maides History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Maides

What does the name Maides mean?

The distinguished name Maides originates in Maidstone, Kent dating back to before the Domesday Book of 1086. The place name probably means "stone of the maidens, (where they gathered)." 1

Early Origins of the Maides family

The surname Maides was first found in Kent at Maidstone, a borough, markettown, and parish, having separate jurisdiction, and the head of a union, locally in the hundred of Maidstone. "Some writers have thought this to be the Caer Meguiad or Megwad enumerated by Nennius among the principal cities in Britain. Camden considers it to be the Vagniacæ mentioned in the second Itinerary of Antoninus. The Saxons named it Medwegestun, a town on the Medwege or middle river, now Medway; in Domesday Book it is written Meddestane, and in records of the time of Edward I., Maydenestane, from which the transition to its present appellation is easy. " 2

Early History of the Maides family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Maides research. Another 68 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1396, 1410, 1412 and 1586 are included under the topic Early Maides History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Maides Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Maides are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Maides include Maidstone, Maidston, Mayston, Maydeston, Madston and others.

Early Notables of the Maides family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Richard Maidstone or Maydestone (d. 1396), Carmelite, a native of Kent, educated at Oxford, where he became bachelor and doctor of divinity. Maidstone was confessor to John of Gaunt (MS. e Mus. 86, f. 160), and a Carmelite friar of Aylesford, Kent, where he died on 1 June 1396. According to the 'Savile Catalogue,' compiled in 1586, he was a fellow of Merton College, but, as Anthony à Wood noticed, this is extremely doubtful. 3Clement Maidstone or Maydestone...
Another 86 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Maides Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Maides migration to the United States +

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Maides, or a variant listed above:

Maides Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

John Maides, who landed in Maryland in 1667 4

Sources +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)