Family name origins & meanings
- German (also Gülden) : from the name of the coin (English guilder), from Middle High German guldīn ‘golden’; it was probably applied as a nickname, or a status name with reference to a medieval tax obligation.
- German : nickname or topographic name for someone living near a cesspool, a euphemistic application of Middle Low German gülden, gulden, Middle High German guldin ‘gold’, ‘golden’.
- Jewish (Ashkenazic) : ornamental name from German Gulden, Yiddish guldn, or Polish gulden ‘guilder’ (see 1 above).