Eddy (surname)

The surname **Eddy** is used by descendants of a number of English, Irish and Scottish families.

## Etymology

Frank R. Holmes, in his *Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families, 1600-1700*, proposes two possible origins; the Gaelic *eddee*, "instructor", or from the Saxon *ed* and *ea*, "backwards" and "water", a whirlpool or eddy, making the surname Eddy a place-name. Another possible origin is the Saxon root *ead*, "success" or "prosperity". *Ead* occurs in numerous commonly used names, as Edgar, Edmund, Edward, Edwin, and the outdated Edwy. John Eddy of Taunton spells the name Eddway in the earliest record so far found. Eddy could also be a diminutive of any one of these names.

Robert Ferguson, in his work on *English Surnames*, believes that Eddy is a place-name: “Eday, Eady, Eddy are from ead, prosperity. Hence the name of the rock Eddiston, on which the celebrated light house is built. From this word are compounded a great number of Anglo-Saxon names of which we have Edward, Edmund, Edgar,Edw Edwin.”

## Early history

One of the first mentions that is close to the form of Eddy, is the name of the priest Eddi or Edde, Latinized into Eddius. He went to Northumbria from Canterbury with Bishop Wilfrid (or Wilfrith) in 669, and later took the name Stephanus. He taught the Roman method of chanting, and in 709 he was in the monastery of Ripon, where he wrote a life of Wilfrid in Latin.

In the *Domesday Book*, the name Eddeu is used in a description of Little Abington, Cambridgeshire, and during the time of Edward the First there were a number of people named Ede, Edde, and Edwy on the tax collection rolls of Worcestershire. There is a record in Hertfordshire, of a William Edy, Gentleman, in 1486. Edie, Eddy, Eddye, Edshune and Edye are found in numerous records in Gloucestershire from 1545 onward. At Woodbridge, Suffolk, Eyde is found as a surname between 1599 and 1610.

Starting from 1570 in the records of many parishes of the Archdeaconry Court of Cornwall, the following surnames are found: Edy, Eady, Eedy, Ede, Edye, Eddey, and Eddy. In Bristol, the town where William Eddye, the Vicar, was born, a number of wills from the late 16th century have the surname of Eddie, Eddye or Eddy. Ade, Adie, Addy, Eadie are common Scottish surnames. These may be forms of the name “Adam”. David Eadie of Moneaght, Scotland, was granted a coat of arms in 1672.

## The surname in North America

In North America, the largest family group who bears the Eddy surname are descended from two brothers, John and Samuel, who immigrated to America on October 29, 1630 on a ship called *Handmaid*. Their father, William Eddye, was the Vicar of the church in CranbrookTemplate:Disambiguation needed, England, from 1586–1616 and was born in Bristol in the mid-16th century. Other Northern American "patriarchs" are John Eddy who lived in Taunton, Massachusetts in the late 17th century; John Eddy of Woodbridge, New Jersey, (Scottish) who immigrated in the early 18th century; James Eddy, born in Dublin, Ireland, around 1712, and immigrated in 1753; Thomas Eddy, immigrated in the late 18th century to Fort Ann, New York, from Ireland; brothers William and John Eddy, immigrated from Ireland to New York city in the mid 19th century; and William Dave Eddy, who came to the United States from Cornwall, England, in 1887. There is a currently large family of Eddys in Cornwall.

## Eddy DNA Project

The Eddy DNA Project is hosted at Family Tree DNA (FTDNA). For men with the surname Eddy, the project uses a 37 marker or higher Y-DNA test to identify which Eddy family you descend from, along with your documented lineage. Women and non Eddy surnamed men, who descend from an Eddy family can take an Autosomal DNA test called the Family Finder test. The autosomal DNA test will give you cousin matches from 1st out to the 5th cousin on both your maternal and paternal sides. This test looks at all 23 chromosomes and over 100,000 markers. FTDNA will now accept Ancestry.com and 23&Me test results as transfers. To join the Eddy project go to the Family Tree DNA website and scroll down the page to select the test you need.

* Y-DNA test for men with the surname of Eddy or variant spelling
* Family Finder test for women and non Eddy men who descend from an Eddy.
* Option 1 YDNA transfer: "Transfer Y-DNA46 $19.00", will get an account, but must manually add results from original lab. Will NOT have results compared to the FTDNA Database, but will be on the GAP 2.0 Sign In project results page.
* Option 2 YDNA Transfer:"Transfer Y-DNA46 with Y-DNA37 $58.00" They will send you a new kit for a new cheek sample, you get an account profile page and once processed you will see your matches within the whole FTDNA database.
* Autosomal Test Transfer: If you had an autosomal test done at 23&Me or Ancestry.com you can transfer those results to FTDNA for free. You will get the first 20 matches for free and can unlock all your matches for a small fee. Use this URL to order the transfer. This does not add you to the Eddy Project though. Once you have your new kit number and password, login and on the left column click on manage project. Scroll down to the Y-DNA category and choose the letter E, then scroll again to Eddy and click join.

## Notable persons

* Arthur Jerome Eddy (1859–1920), American lawyer, author, art collector, and art critic
* C. M. Eddy, Jr. (1896–1967), American short story writer
* Charles B. Eddy (active on 1880s), American cattle rancher, namesake for Eddy County, New Mexico
* Chuck Eddy (born 1960), American music journalist
* David M. Eddy (active since 1971), American physician, mathematician, and healthcare analyst
* Duane Eddy (born 1938), American guitarist
* Eddy Brothers, two American mediums best known in the 1870s, who claimed psychic powers
* Ezra Butler Eddy (1827–1906), Canadian businessman and political figure
* Fannyann Eddy (1974–2004), murdered lesbian human rights defender from Sierra Leone
* Frank Eddy (1856–1929), American politician from Minnesota
* Jerome Eddy (1829–1905), American businessman and politician from Michigan
* John A. Eddy (1931–2009), American astronomer
* Manton S. Eddy (1892–1962), American general
* Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910), the American founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist church
* Nelson Eddy (1901–1967), American singer
* Norman Eddy (1810–1872), American politician and military officer
* Sarah J. Eddy (1851–1945), American artist, photographer and suffragette
* Sean Eddy (born circa 1966), bioinformatician
* Shelia Eddy (born 1996), American convicted of murder
* Thomas Eddy (1758–1827), NY merchant, philanthropist and politician
* William A. Eddy (1896–1962), American academic and intelligence officer
* William Abner Eddy (1850–1909), American accountant and journalist famous for his experiments with kites
* William C. Eddy (1902–1989), American naval officer, submariner, engineer, television producer, educator, cartoonist, artist, inventor, entrepreneur, explorer, writer
* William F. Eddy (1852–1930), Canadian political figure from Saskatchewan

## Further reading

Eddy Family publications
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Directories
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## References

1. ↑ Template:Cite book
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3. ↑ "Family Tree DNA Group: Eddy". *Family Tree DNA*.

## External links

* Eddy Family Association – Genealogy

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