Gandy Family History

English:: possibly a nickname from Old French gandie ‘pretence trick trickery’. Alternatively, perhaps from a shortened form of the Old French personal name Gandin, a pet form of ancient Germanic names beginning with Wand- ‘turn wind’ or more likely Gand- (of uncertain etymology).

In Cheshire, Middle English variation between Gond- and Gand- is probably due to dialect rounding of original -a- before -n(d)-. In south England, however, the variation is difficult to explain (see 3 below).

In south England, possibly a variant of Gander with substitution of -y for weakly stressed -er.

No evidence has been found to support the claim of Reaney and Wilson citing John Gameday 1327 in Subsidy Rolls (Suffolk) that the name derives from Middle English Gameday ‘servant of Game’.