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GENDER: Male first name and very popular surname.

PRONUNCIATION: LAN-dun

ETYMOLOGY: Old English meaning 'long hill', lang meaning long and dun meaning hill. Old English (or Anglo-Saxon Englisc [not an error - the Anglo Saxon English language was called Englisc]) was spoken between the mid 5th and mid 12th centuries and has roots in the Germanic languages.

ORIGIN & HISTORY: Originally a surname derived from an Old English place name, Landon is now common throughout the English speaking world, as well as throughout Europe where Landon is still a popular surname in Germany and France. Landon is a Christian name thought to originate in Cornwall, UK.

POPULARITY: The number of first name Landon's in the US has doubled in the last decade, making a steady rise from the 1960s into the top 100 names in the US in 2007.

FACTS: The name Landon is associated with athleticism and strength.

NAMESAKES: In Star Wars: Episode V Hans Solo introduces his old buddy Lando Calrissian to Princess Leia as a "card player, scoundrel, you'll like him".
Landon was also the name of Robert Gunner's character in the 1968 version of "Planet of the Apes" starring Charlton Heston.
Chteau-Landon is a little town in the Paris region (Rgion Parisienne) having around 3000 residents.
The Landon Arena in Topeka, Kansas is home to the Kansas Koyotes indoor football team and the Topeka Roadrunners ice hockey team.
The American Association for Cancer Research annually bestows the prestigious Landon Award on "scientists whose discoveries have led to fundamental advances in the science and treatment of cancer".

FAMOUS PERSONS: The LA Galaxy American soccer player Landon Timothy Donovan was born March 4, 1982 in Ontario and in 2008 was the top scorer for the US National Soccer Team with 35 goals. He plays second striker.
"Little House on the Prairie" and "Highway to Heaven" actor Michael Landon is one of the more famous Landon's, he chose the name when he embarked on his acting career having been born Eugene Maurice Orowitz on October 31st, 1936.
Alfred Mossman Landon, born September 9th 1887, was the 26th Governor of Kansas serving two terms between 1933 and 1937. He was the Republican Presidential Nominee who competed against Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1936 presidential election. The Landon Lecture Series on Public Issues is still held today at Kansas State University in memory of Governor Alf Landon, who died aged 100 in 1987.
Christophe Landon is an award winning violin and bow maker, dealer and restorer who moved to New York in 1984 from his birth country of France.

NAME VARIANTS: Landan, Landen, Landin, Lando and Landyn. Nicknames: Lan, Lanny, Lando

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