Holden Surname Meaning & Origin
What the Holden last name means, where the surname began and how it spread.
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Meaning and origin of the Holden last name
Meaning of the Holden last name: deep valley. Holden is an English surname from Holden in Lancashire or Yorkshire, from Old English words for "hollow" and "valley": a deep valley. The last name belongs above all to Lancashire and West Yorkshire. A curious detail of this family name meaning: in Australia the name became famous through the Holden car company, which began in Adelaide as a saddle-making business in the 1850s.
Arms associated with the Holden name
A blazon is the short formal description of a coat of arms, written in old heraldic French, and arms associated with Holden families are described the same way.
Get your full Holden family history
This is only a glimpse of the Holden story. The full Holden history report goes much deeper into where the name began, who carried it and how the family spread, and it comes with a museum-style painted Holden coat of arms. Get the full Holden report.
Holden name FAQ
What does the Holden name mean?
Deep valley. Common variants include Holdene, Houlden, Holdin.
Where does the Holden surname come from?
It originates in England, and is also found in the United States, Australia and Canada.
Is there a Holden coat of arms?
Arms were granted to individuals rather than to everyone with a surname. Herald Lab paints a personalized Holden coat of arms in museum style, based on historic heraldry.
Sources: Reaney & Wilson, Dictionary of English Surnames; Dictionary of American Family Names (Oxford).