An English and Irish surname, Hayden comes from the Old English terms ‘heg‘, ‘hege’ and ‘haeg’ along with ‘dun’ and ‘denu’ which refer to a hay hill, a hay down, mountain, valley or hay enclosure. A spelling variation for Hayden is Haydon. In England the early Hayden families resided in Norfolk. The surname became popular across most of the country. The areas with the higher populations include Essex, Hampshire, Cambridgeshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Yorkshire. In Scotland the counties with many Hayden families are Lanarkshire, Midlothian and Dumfries-shire. Within the United States the early Hayden families settled in Virginia, New York, Maine, Connecticut and Massachusetts. Famous: Harry Hayden (actor from Canada), Leo Hayden (professional football player), Robert Hayden (poet), Scott Hayden (ragtime music composer), Sterling Hayden (movie film actor), Linda Hayden (movie film and television actress from England), Vanessa Hayden (professional basketball player), Jeffrey Hayden (television director and producer), Emily Spencer Hayden (famous photographer), Brent Hayden (champion swimmer from Canada) and Basil Hayden (champion college basketball player and coach).