Overview
"Every line of strength in American history is a line colored with Scottish blood." President
Woodrow Wilson. The House of Gordon has a proud heritage and history in Scotland and
throughout the world. Scotland has given the world so much from the very foundations of our
American freedoms to a myriad of inventions. The Gordons have played a large part in the
history and culture of Scotland and America as well as many other countries!
Genealogy -- TODD
Todd, Tod Distribution Maps 1850-1990
Distribution maps are a valuable tool in understanding the immigration, migration
and population growth patterns of a surname within the United States as
recorded on the censuses.
Click on the thumbnail to view a larger version of each distribution map
Todd Surname
Tod Surname
The Tod(d) surname was found in the Border area from early times, and
moved into the Aberdeen/Grampion area with the Gordons. The English
family, Fox, is descended from the Todd family. Some of the first settlers of this
name or some of its variants were: Robert Todd settled in Virginia in 1622;
George and Mary Todd settled in Virginia in 1650; William Todd settled in Virginia
in 1651. The Todd surname derives from the Scots Gael word tod, which means
fox and was often used to denote a person with red hair or with fox-like qualities
such as quick wit, cleverness, and wiliness, or a fox hunter. Our particular family
story is that the first Tod(d) was a Gordon with red hair and a wily nature good at
tracking, but not being tracked. He was called the Tod, because he was sly like a
fox. We don't know if it is true, but it makes a good story. Two of the most noted
of the Todd family are the biochemist Alexander Robert Todd, Barron Todd who
won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1957, and the geometer, John Arthur Todd.
