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Ardie

Meanings and history of the name Arden: | Edit

1. Great Forest, 2. Ardent; enthusiastic
Arden was the name of the Forest in Shakespeare's As You Like It and William Shakespeare's mother's maiden surname.

The Forest of Arden is a real place in England, located right next to Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare came from. Shakespeare's mother was indeed named Mary Arden; she came from a prominent family in the area who took their name from the forest. The Forest of Arden in As You Like It is an imaginary version which incorporates elements from the Ardennes Forest in Belgium/Luxembourg/France. As far as the derivation of the name goes, it probably comes from an ancient British (i.e. Celtic) word "ardu," meaning "high" or "high land." There are towns in the area of the forest called Henley-in-Arden, Tanworth-in-Arden and Hampton-in-Arden, and a couple of villages in Scotland named Arden as well.

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