Gidney is a family name adopted by an off shoot of the Gedney family

Gedney family

The Gedneys were among the original settlers of Salem, Massachusetts. The family patriarch, John Gedney , sailed in 1636 out of Yarmouth, England on the . One of his sons, Bartholomew, has the dubious distinction of being one of the judges who presided over the infamous witch trials. ...

 of Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. This branch of the family settled in upstate New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and, following the war of independence, migrated to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, where they changed their name to Gidney and established themselves in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

. People with the name Gidney include:

• Francis Gidney
  Francis Gidney
  Francis "Skipper" Gidney was an early leader of the Scouting movement in the United Kingdom and organized the first Wood Badge adult leader training course at Gilwell Park in September 1919. He became the first Gilwell Camp Chief in May 1919 and served until 1923. The Gidney Cabin at Gilwell was...
  
   (1890-1928), leader of the Scouting movement in the United Kingdom
• Sir Henry Gidney
  Henry Gidney
  Sir Henry Albert John Gidney was an important member of the Anglo-Indian community of the British Raj. He served as the leader of the Anglo-Indian community for nearly twenty years. He received his education in Bangalore, Kolkata, and Allahabad. At 16, he joined Calcutta medical college,...
  
   (1873 - 1942), English research scholar and a lecturer in ophthalmology

Other uses

• Gidney was also the name of one of the Moon Men
  Gidney & Cloyd
  Gidney and Cloyd are fictional characters originally appearing in the American animated television program Rocky and His Friends . Their names were adapted from the names "Sidney" and "Floyd", which Jay Ward said were the most boring names ever...
  
   on the American
  United States
  The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
  
   animated
  Animation
  Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
  
   television
  Television
  Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
  
   program Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Gidney's is also a well known fish market in the Montreal/laval region of Quebec.