You're very lucky. It's a well-researched name.
It's a Gaelic (Celtic) name, either Scottish, Irish or French. Peden from Scotland / Ireland is derived from MacFadyen, meaning "son of Paidin". Read a lot more.
There's a Y-chromosone project going on for the Peden surname (+ Paden, other variant spellings). The idea is to see how closely related all Peden men are, especially those living in the USA.
The Y-chromosome page describes a lot about most of the family descent within the USA. Most of today's American Peden can trace back to people who settled initially in the southern USA, starting from about 1720. There is a group of African-Americans with the Peden surname, who trace back to Mississippi.
If you or a close male relative also born with the Peden surname can donate a Y-chromosome to this project, then you can find out which family branch you belong on (French, Irish, etc.)
More about Paden's, including family trees -- see if you can link up your knowledge of family history with somebody in this database.
It's a Gaelic (Celtic) name, either Scottish, Irish or French. Peden from Scotland / Ireland is derived from MacFadyen, meaning "son of Paidin". Read a lot more.
There's a Y-chromosone project going on for the Peden surname (+ Paden, other variant spellings). The idea is to see how closely related all Peden men are, especially those living in the USA.
The Y-chromosome page describes a lot about most of the family descent within the USA. Most of today's American Peden can trace back to people who settled initially in the southern USA, starting from about 1720. There is a group of African-Americans with the Peden surname, who trace back to Mississippi.
If you or a close male relative also born with the Peden surname can donate a Y-chromosome to this project, then you can find out which family branch you belong on (French, Irish, etc.)
More about Paden's, including family trees -- see if you can link up your knowledge of family history with somebody in this database.