An English surname, Hardin, comes from the Old English term of ‘hara’ and ‘denu’ which refer to a valley. A German form with the term ‘hard’ refers to someone strong and brave. Variations in spelling for Hardin include Hardon, Harden and Hardene. In England the city of London, Essex, Kent, Somerset, Devon, Lanarkshire, Cheshire and Cumberland have the higher percentage of Hardin families. There are some also in Wales, in the northern regions. In Scotland just in East Lothian and Lanarkshire is where the greater numbers of individual with the Hardin surname live. Within the United States the Hardin surname is mostly in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, California, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Arkansas. Famous: Jim Hardin (professional baseball player), Charles Henry Hardin (19th century co-founder of the Beta Theta fraternity), Jerry Hardin (actor), Melora Hardin (actress), John Hardin (American officer in the Revolutionary War), Devon Hardin (professional basketball player) and Martin Davis Hardin (Civil War Union Army General).