Gulledge
A rare surname probably from an English place-name, likely meaning someone who came from or lived near Gulledge/Golledge in Sussex.
The #8,631 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 81,036 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is most likely locational, referring to an estate or place called Gulledge (also written Golledge) near East Grinstead in Sussex. In this kind of surname, the name originally identified a person by where they lived or came from. The exact meaning of the place-name itself is not certain from the excerpt alone.
History
The form appears in English records as a place-based surname and later spreads beyond England through migration. Because the cited source mentions the Sussex estate only incidentally, the derivation should be treated as plausible rather than definitive. Modern bearers are concentrated in the United States, where the name remains uncommon.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
This surname is uncommon enough that even 19th-century surname dictionaries mention it only in passing, linked to a specific Sussex estate.
From the historical record
“mination it is probably local. GOLLEDGE. Gulledge, an estate near E. Grinstcad, co. Sussex. GOLLOP. Probably the same as Gallop. The Gollops of Strode, co. Dorset, have a tradition of Danish or Swedish descent from”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom