Origin
The family Groothedde originates in The Netherlands.
Beginning
Apparently the name Groothedde comes from a farm (boerderij) in the Hof van Weldam in the Netherlands called Groot Hedde (Grote Heide).
The farm as it was in 2018.
The name Groothedde appeared in the Netherlands during the times of the French Dukes of Burgundy. The first mention was in the town of Goor in the province of Overijssel in 1373:
Odberte Thor Luttike – Heddene and his wife Berteke.
In 1381 appeared: Magnum and Parvum Heddene
In 1475 appeared: Lutttikhedde, van der Hedde and then Groothedde
The first mention of the name Groothedde that we are aware of is in the family of Wessel Berents who had seven children and the last two were given the name Groothedde as part of their last name. Wessel was born around 1630 and died before February 8, 1685. Wessel could have lived on “de Leere Lampe” of “de Lampe”, a homestead (hofstede) annex cafe by the city of Klarenbeek in the Dutch province of Gelderland near the city of Apeldoorn. There are indications that his wife was called Kunniken. Their sixth child, a son, was called Albert or Aelbert with the last name Wessels Groothedde or Wesselsz Groothedde. Their seventh child was named Gerrit or Garnt or Garrit with the last name Wessels Groothedde.
It was common in those days that children were given a last name that was the first name of their father and adding an s. So when the father had the first name Wicher, some of his children might suddenly have the last name Wichers. So in our case Wessels or Wesselz means son of Wessel.
Since people used to give their name orally and the writer would write it down as he heared it, the same person would often have his name spelled differently in different documents.
In the case of Wessel’s son Albert seven of his children were recorded with the last name Groothedde and one with the last name Grootherder.
In the case of Wessel’s son Gerrit, his six children were recorded with the last name Gerrits Groothedde except for one that was just recorded with the name Groothedde.
The family tree in our database starts with Wessel Berents and I can trace myself and most other Groothedde’s directly back to him.
Meaning
Heddene is derived from the old Saxon word Hethino, which means an inhabitant of the heather country and also heathen or pagan before Christianity.
Images
Images of the Groothedde family can be found on our Groothedde Images page.
Charts
Ancestor Charts can be found on our Groothedde Charts page.