In RR Blewett's MS "Cornish Celtic Surnames", in the Royal Institution of Cornwall library, Andean is given as a late form of Endean, "En" being Old Cornish, "the" and "An" being Middle Cornish "the". He makes the following observations on the name:
"From time immemorial every human group has found an outstanding leader – the man".
"In every human community are men born to be leaders."
In case this gives the impression that the first "An Den" was necessarily a distinguished or leading person, we should remember that, at least in English, "man" can indicate a retainer or servant.
The question arises whether or not all the present Endeans/Andains descend from just one individual who, from some quality of leadership or some leading role in the community, was given the description "an den" in addition to his personal name. Usually a shared surname is not of itself evidence of common descent, as a number of individuals could be given the same additional name quite independently. However, the earliest bearers of the name so far traceable all appear in the area of St Columb Minor and St Mawgan in the 16th century and there are reasonable grounds for assuming that all of the name originated in this group. A pattern emerges of a spread outwards to St Agnes and Padstow in the North and downwards and outwards to Falmouth and the Roseland peninsular in the South. Thus a common ancestry could well unite all of the name. In any event, the name itself is evidence of an origin in Celtic speaking Cornwall at least as far back as the late Middle Ages.
In pronouncing the name outside (and nowadays often inside) Cornwall the stress is usually placed on the first syllable, but it is correctly placed on the second syllable. This results in the initial vowel being scarcely heard, giving the pronunciation 'n dane or 'n dean, accounting for the many variations in spelling. Recorded spellings include:DAYNE, DEYNE, ANDAIN, ANDAINE, ANDEAN, ANDEANE, ANDAYEN, ANDEYNE, ANDEN, ANDENA, ANDEAIN, ANDEIN, ENDAYN, ENDAYNE, ENDEAN, ENDEANE, ENDEEN, ENDAINE, ENDEINE, ENDEN, ENEDINE, ENIDINE, ENDERN, ENDRAN, INDAIN, INDAYNE, INDEAN, INDIAN, INEDIN and one possible HENDIN. Occasionally the name has been entered in error as "Dean" or "Dayn" etc., which is of course a surname in its own right, occurring both inside and outside Cornwall. But Dayne etc. seems to have been actually used as an alternative to Andayne etc in St. Mawgan parish in the 16th century.
Uniform spelling of names is a comparatively recent development. There is no doubt that these various spellings do in fact represent the same name as there are many instances where the same individual appears in different records with different spellings. One William of Ladock and Cornelly was baptised as Indain, married as Andean and buried as Endean. The Endean's of Tregony/Cornelly and the Andains of St Just were usually written as Andean up to the early mid 19th century.
As with many Cornish families, representatives of the Endeans have spread to other parts of Britain and overseas, partly owing to economic necessity or sometimes seeking scope for business and other enterprises. The name is still represented in North America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. No illustrious or aristocratic ancestors are to be found in the Endean pedigrees. Previous genealogy was almost entirely devoted to such families but recent years have seen an increase in interest in the stories of so-called ordinary families and how they relate to their local and historical backgrounds.
The Endeans were in fact a fairly typical Cornish family with the usual large proportion working on the land, in tin and copper mining, and serving the land-owning gentry. Some inevitably fell victim to fluctuations in the fortunes of agriculture and mining, becoming dependent on parish relief. Some were of the "yeomen" class, a term originally applied to free-holding landowners below "gentry" status, but later applied to any substantial farmer. A number were millers. Later generations were represented in the Cornish Constabulary and other police forces, as minor ship owners, lesser authors, in mine investment and in the multitude of occupations opened up by industrial development and educational opportunity in the 19th century, when at least one Chartist of the name was active!
The bulk of references in this work were obtained from Parish Registers, Census Returns and Wills, but many other sources were consulted, eg newspapers, parish accounts, and directories. I also owe a great debt to those relatives who passed on family records, photographs etc, and who passed on family traditions.
Inevitably some sources remain to be searched, but it is unlikely that any considerable group of the name has been overlooked at least as far as Cornwall is concerned, prior to the 20th century.
Dennis Endean Ivall
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