An old English pre 7th Century surname, made up of the personal name Leoda, plus "ing(as)", people of, and "ham", a
village or homestead; hence; "the homestead of leoda's people", or the old English "leat", a water conduit, "ing", "dwellers at", and "hamm", a flat-low lying meadow on a stream.Isobell, daughter of George ledingham, was christened in Rayne, Aberdeen on
August 31st 1679, and a George Ledingham was a member of the Gartly company of
Volunteers in 1798. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of George Ledinghame of Auchinlek, which was dated 1574, "Records of the sheriff court of Aberdeenshire", during the reign of King James V1 of
Great Britain, 1567 - 1625. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.
From: w.w.w.surnamedb.com
