(origin: Local) A corruption of Du-er-den, as still pronounced by the natives of Lancashire, England, where branches of the family reside, and which signifies, "A thicket of wood in a valley." "Doir-den."

Arthur, William (1857) An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names. New York: Sheldon, Blakeman. Public Domain.

DEARDEN. Evidently local, perhaps from a place so called near Edenfield in Bury, CO. Lancaster. " The ancient and modern pronunciation of the name by the natJA'cs of Lancashire is Du-er-dcn," which Cowell, with fanciful ingenuity, interprets " a thicket of wood in a valley." See B.L.G. The Deardens of Eochdale Manor claim descent from Eh'as de Duerden, temp. Hen. YI., but so eai-ly as the thirteenth century the name of Durden, Durdent, or Duredent is variously applied to a certain kniglit Mho may have been a progenitor of the family.

Lower, Mark A (1860) Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom. London: J.R. Smith. Public Domain.