[2] The English surname Gordon is derived from the placename of Gourdon, in Saône-et-Loire, France.
One origin of the surname is from the Scottish surname, which spread into Ireland in the 17th century during the plantation era; in the Irish language this name is spelt de Górdún.
This personal name is derived from the Irish language word muirneach, meaning "beloved".
[4] Gordon (Hebrew: גורדון Russian: Гордон) is also a Jewish surname, likely derived from the city of Grodno, in Belarus[3]—thus, of an origin completely unrelated to the British surname though spelled the same in English.
[5] Gordon is also a British Romany surname with origins on the Scottish-English Border; during the 17th and 18th century fearing persecution many Gypsy folk in the North of England and the South of Scotland chose to change their surnames to blend into the local societies they were living within.