From Where Does The Surname Originate? ^{meaning and history}

User-submitted Reference

The surname Pedlow is derived from the French 'Pied de Loup' (wolf's paw), a nickname first applied to Eudes de Vermandois, Seigneur de Ham, who lived from approximately 1030 to 1076. Vermandois and Ham are in the present-day Picardy region of France, near Amiens. The surname came to the British Isles with the Norman Conquest or afterward, and the first recorded reference to the name is found in a Norman land grant in Ireland dated to the years 1188-1191, soon after the Norman invasion of the island that began in 1169. In this land grant 'Richard and Roger Pedelow' were listed as witnesses (interestingly most of the other witnesses in this document did not yet have surnames but were simply listed as 'son of'). The source for this document is 'The Irish Cartularies of Llanthony Prima and Secunda' (Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1953), pp. 31-32. The name continued on in the Norman-controlled part of Ireland for several centuries (with various royal documents spelling the name as 'de Pedelowe', 'Pedelowe', or 'Pedelow', with one individual, Richard de Pedlowe, referred to as a knight) and also in England, where it later became Pedlow. The surname was reintroduced into Ireland in the 17th century, this time in Ulster, where the name continues today but has also spread throughout the English-speaking world. In 18th and 19th century Irish records the name was sometimes confused with Pedlar or Pedley, but by the end of the 19th century all of these families spelled their surname Pedlow. The 'Pied de Loup' surname continued on in France, and several French merchants from Amiens appeared in British medieval records when coming to England for trade: William Pedelu (1293) and William and Simon Piedelewe/Piedleu/Piedeleu (variant spellings in documents from 1364 to 1367). In 1669 the Piedeloup family was recognized as belonging to the ancient nobility of Brittany, and its arms were recorded as three black wolf's paws on a shield of gold. The surname continues to this day in France as Piedeloup or Piedelou.