Gilders Family History

The name Gilder or Gelder appears as a variant with a post-medieval excrescent -s. Historical records provide examples such as Ric. Gelder in 1566 from IGI in Barton upon Humber, Lincs, Nicholas Gilder in 1589 from IGI in Saint Ann Blackfriars, London, Jeremie Gilder in 1592 from IGI in Islip, Oxon, and Anne Gilder in 1769 from IGI in Alresford, Essex.

It's suggested that the name may be associated with an officer of a town's guild-house, known in Middle English as gild-ho(u)s. However, it remains uncertain whether the Middle English surname became hereditary, since post-medieval forms like Gildas and Gildus are likely quasi-phonetic spellings of Gilders or Gelders.

In these post-medieval forms, the sound /r/ appears to have assimilated to the following /s/. The spelling Gildhouse from 1688 is probably a hypercorrect version of Gildus, influenced by folk etymology.

As a result, all the post-medieval examples listed may belong to the first category of names. This complexity in the origins and transformations of the surname highlights the dynamic nature of language and naming conventions through history.