Gladding

Gladding is a surname of Latin, French, and English origin. The first people to hold the name Gladding lived in Cambrai, France. The name is assumed to originate from Petrus Gladius who was first documented in French marriage records dating to 1135. It has a close association with the Middle English surname Gladwin.

Gladding

Gladding Family Insignia (1901)
Origin
Language(s)	Latin, French, English
Derivation	Gladius
Meaning	"Good friend" (Anglicanisation), "Sword" (Original Latin)
Other names
Variant form(s)	Gladwin, Gladwyn, Gledwin, Gladine, Glading, Gladuin[1]

History

16th Century

Around the 16th century, the Gladding family started showing up in English immigration records, coming from France. In England, the name was written in records as Gladding and Gladwin interchangeably.

17th Century

The first Gladding in the United States was John Gladding (the first). He arrived at Rhode Island in the mid 17th century.^[1][2]

19th-20th Century

Family Reunion

On two separate occasions, the Gladding family hosted a reunion on 1890 and 1900. The reunion was hosted with the intent of finding every Gladding in the United States that was descended from John Gladding (the First) and was hosted by Henry Coggeshall Gladding. Henry asked for people to send a physical art piece, poem, or momento to be read at the reunion if they were unable to make it.

The first reunion took place on August 27th, 1890 at Bristol, Rhode Island. At the start of the reunion, Hezekiah Butterworth invoked the divine blessing and read a poem. Then Lieutenant Governor of the State of Rhode Island, William T. C. Wardwell revealed himself to be married to be married to Lenora Frances Gladding.

Distribution

People holding the surname Gladding typically reside in the United States, England, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia.

2014 distribution[3]
Country	Number	Ratio/freq
United States	1,299	1:279,029
England	590	1:94,437
New Zealand	109	1:41,544
Canada	99	1:372,178
Australia	31	1:870,829

People with the Surname Gladding

• Charles Gladding (1828–1894), American co-founder of Gladding, McBean ceramics company
• Fred Gladding (1936 – 2015), American baseball player
• Jody Gladding, American translator and poet
• Monique Gladding (b. 1981), South African-born British diver
• Gary Gladding, American physicist