Reardon Name Study

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown]
Surnames/tags: Reardon Riordan

The Reardon family name is alternatively spelled either Reardon or Riordan; both are common spellings of this Irish surname. However, the majority of the English and Welsh historical records spell our family’s surname as Reardon. The Irish name Riordan, from ri "king" and bardan "poet", means "royal poet." In Irish tradition, poets were very highly regarded in any royal household; they acted as scholars, historians and advisors to the king. The original form of the surname was O Rioghbhardain, which was originally derived from the words "riogh bhard," meaning "royal bard."

About the Project

The Reardon Name Study project serves as a collaborative platform to collect information on the Reardon name. The hope is that other researchers like you will join the study to help make it a valuable reference point for other genealogists who are researching or have an interest in the Reardon name.

As a One Name Study, this project is not limited to persons who are related biologically. Individual studies can be used to branch out the research into specific methods and areas of interest, such as geographically (England Reardons), by time period (18th Century Reardons), or by topic (Reardon DNA, Reardon Occupations, Reardon Statistics). These studies may also include a number of family branches which have no immediate link with each other. Some researchers may even be motivated to go beyond the profile identification and research stage to compile fully sourced, single-family histories of some of the families they discover through this name study project.

Also see the related surnames and surname variants.

How to Join

To join the Reardon Name Study, first start out by browsing our current research pages to see if there is a specific study ongoing that fits your interests. If so, feel free to add your name to the Membership list below, post an introduction comment on the specific team page, and then dive right in!

If a research page does not yet exist for your particular area of interest, please contact the 'Name Study Coordinator: Lawrence Bailey for assistance.

Once you are ready to go, you can also show your project affiliation with the ONS Member Sticker:

Research Pages

Here are some of the current research pages included in the study. I'll be working on them, and could use your help!

Membership

Related Surnames and Surname Variants

O'Riordan, Riordan, O'Rearden, Rearden

Reardon Information

The name O'Reardon has changed considerably in the time that has passed since its genesis. Individual scribes in the Ireland during the Middle Ages would often record a person's name various ways. How the name was recorded depended on what that particular scribe believed the proper spelling for the name pronounced to him was. Spelling variations revealed in the search for the origin of the O'Reardon family name include O'Riordan, Riordan, O'Rearden, Rearden and others. It originally appeared in Gaelic as O Riordain. The original form of the surname was O Rioghbhardain, which was originally derived from the words "riogh bhard," meaning "royal bard."This name of Medieval Irish origin is an alternative form of Riordan, which in Irish Gaelic is O'Riordain. The earlier form, O'Rioghbhardain, reveals its derivation from 'Rioghbhard', meaning Royal bard, with the 'O' denoting 'descendant of'. The sept of O'Riordan belongs exclusively to Munster, originating in County Tipperary, but migrating to County Cork at such an early date, that they can now be regarded as belonging to that county, where they are far more numerous than anywhere else. Throughout history many name bearers had military connections or were historians. The name was introduced into Barbados, as early as the 17th Century. On July 14th, 1799 Daniel Reardon and Ann Kelly were married in St. Mildred Poultry with St. Mary Colechurch, London and on April 10th 1864 Ann, a daughter was born to Michael Reardon and Ann Leamy in Kinsale, County Cork. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Dinis Reardon, which was dated circa 1678, Census Returns and Parish Registers, Barbados, during the reign of King Charles 11, 1660-1685. Many destitute Irish families in the 18th and 19th centuries decided to leave their homeland, which had in many ways been scarred by English colonial rule. One of the most frequent destinations for these families was North America where it was possible for an Irish family to own their own parcel of land. Many of the early settlers did find land awaiting them in British North America, or even later in America, but for the majority of immigrants that arrived as a result of the Great Potato Famine of the late 1840s the ownership of land was often a long way off. These Irish people were initially put to work on such industrial projects as the building of bridges, canals, and railroads, or they worked at manufacturing positions within factories. Whenever they arrived, the Irish made enormous contributions to the infant nations of Canada and the United States.