645 Global WOLFENDEN Family Members

WOLFENDEN Family History

There are many unusual features about this surname. It is locational and its origins are Olde English, as explained below, but there does not appear to have ever been a place called 'Wolfendale'. There was in the 16th century a hamlet in Lancashire called 'Wolfendene', forming part of the parish of Newchurch-in-Rossendale. It would seem that Wolfendale, the surname, is a localised dialectal transposition of the hamlet name. The name translates as 'the valley of Wulfhelm', the later being an early baptismal name of the pre 9th century.