This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Baldwin.' As a personal name, so popular in the surname period that it has left its mark deeply indented on all our modern directories; v. Ball, Bodden, Bawcock, &c. Baldwin occurs in Domesday. An aunt of the Conqueror married Baldwin, earl of Flanders; and William himself espoused Matilda, daughter of the fifth Baldwin of that earldom. No wonder Flanders was called 'Baldwin's land' (Freeman's Norman Conq.).

Stephen fil. Baldewyn, Cambridgeshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Thomas Baldwyn, Oxfordshire, ibid.

Robert Baldewyne, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Johannes Bawdwyn, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1580. Thomas Baldwyn or Bauldwyn, Salop: Register of the University of Oxford.

1597-8. Edward Baldwyn and Margery Draper: Marriage Lic. (London).

Teut. Baldwin(e, 'bold friend.' A favorite name with the Normans. Baldwin, vicecomes, and Waldeus ejus filius witnessed a grant of the church of Wicestun (now Wiston, Lanarkshire) and its chapel to the Abbey of Kelso, 1153—65 (Kelso, 336).

This very English sounding name originated in Germany and came to England from Flanders. It was well established in the south-eastern counties of Ireland at least as early as 1500, being called both Baldwin and Baldon, as we know from the Fiants of Henry VIII and Edward VI. Many isolated instances of men named Baldwyn etc. in the Pale occur in much earlier records e.g. the Justiciary Rolls (12951307). Baldin and Baldon (both of which are recorded in our own time as synonymous of Baldwin in Ireland) are returned in the “census”of 1659 as principal Irish names in Co. Waterford; and in the same county five Baldwins are recorded as “tituladoes”. The Tithe Applotment Books (c. 1825) and Griffith's Valuation (c. 1850) indicate that there were 68 Baldwin householders in Co.-Waterford and 19 in Queen's Co. (Leix); in 1865 there were 23 Baldwin births registered, 16 of these being in or near Co. Waterford; by 1890 the birth registrations had fallen to ten, again mainly in the Waterford area. Of the 27 Baldwin Wills (1627-1809) of which abstracts are in the Genealogical Oflice, 9 are Dublin, 8 Co. Cork, 7 Queen's Co. (Leix).

When the name occurs in Co. Donegal it is sometimes an anglicization of Mulligan, from a supposed translation of the Irish Maolagan (maol - bald).

(Teutonic) Bold Friend or Protec­tor. [Teutonic Baldwin(e-bald, bold + win-, as in Old Saxon O.H.Ger. wini = Old English wine = O..N. win-r, friend, &c.] Thomas Baldwyn.—Hundred Rolls Baldwin(e was not a common name among the Anglo-Saxons. Its frequent occurrence in the Earldom of Flanders caused that province to be called ‘Bald­win’s Land.’

Baldún This name came to Ireland from Germany via Flanders and was well establisl1ed in Waterford and neighbouring countries by 1500. In Go. Donegal Baldwin is occasionally used as an anglicized form Ó Maolagáin, normally Mulligan.

SIF 12

“Bold-friend” (Bealdwine) in Anglo-Saxon.

(English) Descendant of Baldwin (bold, friend).

The baptismal name. Several chief tenants in Domesd. are called Baldwinius and Baldvinus. H. K. Baudewyne.

(German.) The speedy conqueror or victor; from bald, quick or speedy, and win, an old word signifying victor or conqueror, as Bert—win, famous victor; All—win, all victorious, etc.

William Balduinus paid a fine in Normandy, 1180; Robert B. in 1183; Ralph in 1195 (Magni Rotuli Scaccarii Normanniae). Alicia Bawdewyne was of Cambridge, 1316. Others occur in York, Hants, and Norfolk (Palgr. Park Writs). The family was also seated in the Welsh Marches.

From the Old Norse, Baldvinni (friend of the god Baldr); from the German, Baldin; from the Danish, Bolding; from the Dutch, Bolding; from the Flemish, Bauduin, Boldewin. The name of the Counts of Flanders. Bawdwin is on the Roll of Battell Abbey, and Baldwin among the tenants in chief in the Domesday Book.

A Norman name: From the Domesday Book, Balduin, Count of Flanders.

Baldwin: twice in Leland - as Baudewyn and Baudyn. Baldwin the Sheriff was largely rewarded by the Conqueror for his assistance. The name is personal.

The Baldwins are now established in Gloucestershire, Bucks, Lancashire, Warwickshire, Herts, Norfolk, and Suffolk. In the 13th century they were numerous in Cambridgeshire, Hunts, and Oxfordshire, and there were a few in Shropshire. The Baldwins of Shropshire were for several centuries connected with Shrewsbury and Ludlow (Wright's "Ludlow," etc.).