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 Ead occurs in numerous commonly used names, as Edgar, Edmund, Edward, Edwin, and the outdated Edwy.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.^[1]

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.”^[2]

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 Cranbrook, England, from 1586 to 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.

Notable persons

Alan Eddy (1926–2017), English biochemist
Allison Eddy, Canadian nephrologist
Arthur Jerome Eddy (1859–1920), American lawyer, author, art collector, and art critic
Barry Eddy (born 1952), Australian rules footballer
Bill Eddy (fl. 1970s–2010s), American statistician
Brett Eddy (born 1989), Australian rules footballer
C. M. Eddy Jr. (1896–1967), American short story writer
Cecil Ernest Eddy (1900–1956), Australian radiologist and physicist
Charles B. Eddy (active on 1880s), American cattle rancher, namesake for Eddy County, New Mexico
Chris Eddy (born 1969), American Major League Baseball pitcher
Chuck Eddy (born 1960), American music journalist
Clarence Eddy (1851-1937), American organist and composer
Cullen Eddy (born 1988), American professional ice hockey defenseman
Daniel C. Eddy (1823–1896), American clergyman, hymn writer, politician, and author
David M. Eddy (active since 1971), American physician, mathematician, and healthcare analyst
Deborah Eddy (fl. 1990s–2010s), member of the Washington House of Representatives
Dolph Eddy (1918–1989), Australian politician
Don Eddy (1935–2017), American basketball coach
Don Eddy (1946–2018), Major League Baseball pitcher
Duane Eddy (born 1938), American guitarist
Eddy Brothers, two American mediums best known in the 1870s, who claimed psychic powers
Edward D. Eddy (1921–1998), American educator and college administrator
Elizabeth Eddy (born 1991), American soccer midfielder
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
Gary Eddy (1945–2023), Australian sprinter in the 1964 Summer Olympics
George A. Eddy (1907–1998), American economist
Helen Jerome Eddy (1897–1990), American motion picture actress
Henry Turner Eddy (1844–1921), American science and engineering educator
Ian C. Eddy (1906–1976), decorated American submarine commander during World War II
James R. Eddy (1931–2023), politician in the American state of Florida
James Wade Eddy (1832–1916), American businessman, founder of Arizona Mineral Belt Railroad
Jamie Eddy (born 1972), Canadian ice sledge hockey player
Jerome Eddy (1829–1905), American businessman and politician from Michigan
Jim Eddy (1936–2016), American football coach
John Eddy (1915–1981), British sailor
John A. Eddy (1931–2009), American astronomer
Jonathan Eddy (c. 1726–1804), British-American soldier
Kate Eddy (born 1996), Australian netball player
Keith Eddy (1944–2022), English retired footballer
Lori Eddy (born 1971), Canadian curler
Manton S. Eddy (1892–1962), American general
Mary Baker Eddy (1821–1910), the American founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist church
Mary Pierson Eddy (1864–1923), religious and medical missionary
Mike Eddy (born 1952), American stock car auto racer
Nelson Eddy (1901–1967), American singer
Nick Eddy (born 1944), American pro football player
Norman Eddy (1810–1872), American politician and military officer
Paul L. Eddy (1899-1979), American farmer, businessman, and politician
Ray Eddy (1911–1986), American college basketball coach
Richard Eddy (clergyman) (1828–1906), American Universalist clergyman
Richard Eddy (politician) (1882–1955), New Zealand labourer, trade unionist and member of the New Zealand Legislative Council
Robert Eddy (born 1988), Australian rules footballer
Roger Eddy (born 1946), Canadian former luger
Roger L. Eddy (born 1958), member of the Illinois House of Representatives
Ronald Eddy (born c. 1931), Canadian politician
Samuel Eddy (1769–1839), U.S. Representative from Rhode Island
Samuel E. Eddy (1822–1909), American soldier who fought in the American Civil War
Sara Hershey-Eddy (née Sarah Hershey; 1837–1911), American musician
Sarah J. Eddy (1851–1945), American artist, photographer and suffragette
Sarah Stoddard Eddy (1831-1904), American social reformer and clubwoman
Sean Eddy (born circa 1966), bioinformatician
Shelia Eddy (born 1996), American convicted of murder
Sherwood Eddy (1871–1963), American Protestant missionary, administrator and educator
Sonya Eddy (1967-2022), American actress
Spencer F. Eddy (1873–1939), American diplomat who served as U.S. Minister to Argentina and Romania
Steve Eddy (born 1957), American baseball pitcher
T. V. Eddy (1853–1918), American politician in the state of Washington
Thomas Eddy (1758–1827), New York merchant, philanthropist and politician
Thomas Mears Eddy (1823–1874), American clergyman and author
Victor Eddy (born 1955), West Indies cricketer
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
William R. Eddy (1998-Present), Market Researcher and Football Manager.