WALDRON FAMILY HISTORY

by Patrick J. M. Waldron,
     39, Park Drive,
     Dublin 6,
          Ireland.
Telephone: +353 88 547230

Version 2.1                                         January 9, 1995


1 Origin of the Name Waldron

The surname Waldron occurs in many parts of the world, but this paper con-
centrates mainly on the history of the name in Ireland, where the modern name
Waldron is used by several unrelated families with independent origins:

1. It is an anglicized surname for the descendants of Baildrin or Baldraithe
  MacCoisteala, who was of Norman descent and lived in the Barony of
  Costello in the east of County Mayo around the year 1300 (see below).
  ]Baildrin has been translated 'little Waiter'. The Norman prefix de and
  the Gaelic prefix Mac have both been used by this family, reflecting the
  hibernicization of the Norman MacCoistealas and their descendants after
  they settled in Mayo. The more usual forms of this family's name in the
  Irish language nowadays are De Bhaldraithe and MacBhaildrin. l

2. It is an anglicized form of MacBhalronta, an Irish patronymic assumed by
  the Wellesley family, who became established in County Meath in 1174. 2

The International Genealogical Index for Ireland lists the following as
alternative names for this family: Walsey, Weasley, Welby, Wellesley,
Willesby, Wllloughby, Wilsey and Wolseley. 3

3. It was the surname of a 1609 immigrant from England, which was in turn
  derived from the Old-English forename Waleron or Waleran. Waleran
  was itself derived from the Old German Waleron or Waleram, a name
  compounded from the words wald meaning power and eran meaning raven.

1 Maclysaght, Molloy, Bekan.
2 MacLysaght.
3 IGI.