I am carrying out a world-wide genealogical study of the Hungarian name Édes. My research focuses primarily on Hungary and the area of southwest Slovakia that was part of Hungary until 1920. Research beyond these areas is complicated by the fact that when anglicized, without the accent, it looks just like the English surname Edes which I believe to be unrelated.

If you have any information on the English Edes, or Edes of uncertain origin, please contact me. I will gladly publish relevant information provided to me.

I am looking for one or more study partners who are passionate, or at least mildly interested in researching the English Edes surname . Could that be you? If so, please contact me quick before you have a chance to change your mind.

The  Hungarian surname Édes is anglicized as Edes. A few Slovak women use the feminine variant of the surname; Édesova.

The English surname Edes has been variously spelled Eade, Ead, Eads, Ede, Edds, Eede or  Eades .

Hungarian surname Édes

According to the Régi Magyar Családnevek Névvégmutató Szötára XIV-XVII  Század P.148, the Édes surname dates back to 1415. 

According to Toll és palást, Édes Gergely és Családja: Költők és Lelkészek by Máté István, published Jókai Mór Városi Könyvtár (Pápa) , 2004 the noble Édes clan changed their name from Éde to Édes at the time they moved to Madar shortly before receiving nobility in 1638.

This suggests at least two separate lineages of the Hungarian surname.

English surname Edes

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Ede'; v. Eddie for fuller statement and many instances.

Symon fil. Ede, Huntingdonshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

1565-6. Audrian Awdrvan and Christiane Ede: Marriage Lic. (London).

1603. Thomas Edes and Margery Bishop: ibid.

1803. Married — William Ede and Elizabeth Holdaway: St. George, Hanover Square.

— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, written: 1872-1896 by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

The Régi Magyar Csáladnevek Szótara, XIV-XVII Század (Old Hungarian Family Name Dictionary - XIV-XVII Centuries) is a compilation of references to Surnames in books and manuscripts.
The earliest reference to the surname Édes is in 1415 in Szatmár county, an area now in Romania.
Several other early references are also from Erdély (Transylvania) supporting the story in the *Inconabulum that states that the Madar Édes clan came from that region.

Below are the listed references. The book categorizes Édes as a 'character' name. It means nice, charming, dear or friendly.

ÉDES
1415:Edes 0 (Szatmár m.130)

1422:Valentino Edes (OklSz.)

1428:Edisch Istwan (Eperjes lt.88)

1451: Demetrium Edes (ZichyOkm. 9:227)

1453: Stephano Edes (i.m. 9:369)

1485: Jacobo Edes (OklSz.), Edes 0 (Szatmár m.163)

1568: Edes sophiazzon (Erdélyi SzT. 2:410)

1578: Edes 0 (Magy.-Slov. nyelvhatár 23)

1590 Edes Georgy (Erdélyi SzT. 2:547)

1593: Edes Caspar (i.m. 1:326)

1606: Edes Peter (i.m. 2:547)

1631: edes Peter (i.m. 2:1164), Marcus [Édes] (Prot. egyháztört. 6:17)

1633: edes Janos (Erdélyi SzT. 2:593)

1673: [Édes Vincze] (CsaládtörtSz. 6:41)

1708: Édes Sámuel (TörtTáar. 1907. 486)

1720: Stephanus Edes (OL Komárom m. 42), Franciscus Ides, Clemens Edes (i.m. 155), Johan(nes) Edes, Steph(anus) Edes (OL Nyitra m.101).-L. még Kempelen 3:407

(édes "kedves, barátságos" (NySz.). M:jellemnév.

Worldwide there are probably slightly over 2,000 persons with the Edes/Édes name. Population estimates as of November 2016 are based on data provided by worldnames.publicprofiler.org, worldometers.info, and several governmental databases. According to Forebears.co.uk there are additionally over 1000 people named Edes in Tanzania, which would bring the worldwide total to over 3000 persons with the surname. The primary source for Tanzania is list of students from the Dept. of Education. I have not found any other sources to confirm that yet.

Hungary has the largest Édes population of about 1076, followed by 572 in the United States, 202 in the United Kingdom. The following countries show fewer than 100 persons with the surname Edes; Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Slovakia, Australia, Argentina, Austria, France and Italy. Likely the European populations are a mix of Hungarian and English Edes. Netherlands has records of persons with the Edes surname dating back to 1400s. It appears to be a local patronymic surname. Most of the Slovakians are ethnic Hungarian and a lot of them are from my family line. I personally know several Hungarian Édes who immigrated to the UK, Argentina and the Netherlands. It would be interesting to follow up on the Tanzania population but at present there are no available sources that I know of. How many of these Edes population groups share a common origin? From my observations I think it is likely that the majority of the Edes in the US and Canada migrated from the United Kingdom. But I have found a few documented families in the US who are from Hungary.

Édes family trees are located at this Guild sponsored website.

I administer a DNA study for the Hungarian Édes surname.

 So far through Y-DNA we have proved a common ancestor between a descendant of Ferenc Édes, born in Madar about 1700, and a descendant of Gergely Édes, born in Madar about 1699. We believe both these lines to be descended from the noble Madar Édes clan. They are 2 step R1a matches with haplogroup known as Old Carpathian. The DNA result supports a relationship about 200-400 years ago which fits with our paper records.

A third Y-DNA test found the rare haplogroup G1 which likely migrated from South-West and Central Asia .

More testing is in order.  DNA in particular and genealogy in general, are not as popular in Eastern Europe as in the UK and North America. I expect that these projects will continue to grow slowly.

A separate study for all variants of EADS is administered by Cherie
Ohlsson here.  

I recently initiated a new DNA group for EDES worldwide but I am the sole member so far.  Any Edes surname members who would like to join would be very welcome.   

 

The first Édes surname cousin that I found was through his Hungarian website.  Emil Édes who passed away earlier in 2016 in Györ, Hungary created this family history website. We share common ancestors István Édes and Judith Molnár.  I had the privilege to meet Emil and his wife Zsuzsanna at his home when traveling in Europe in 2014.

On the same trip, I met Laci Édes who created this Hungarian website for his family who came from the town on Kunszentmiklos, Hungary.  Laci  is  haplogroup G1 and apparently not related to the Madar tree.  

This is my family history blog where I have been writing about my discoveries about both sides of my Hungarian family for several years.