Floyd
A Welsh patronymic surname originally tied to Lloyd, meaning "son of Lloyd" in Anglicized form.
The #505 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 4,646 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is generally treated as an Anglicized spelling of Welsh Lloyd, itself from ap Lloyd, meaning "son of Lloyd." In older English records the Welsh sound was often difficult for speakers to render, so Lloyd could be written in forms such as Floyd, Flood, or Flud. The name Lloyd is usually linked with a Welsh personal name meaning "grey" or "brownish-grey," though that deeper origin lies behind the surname rather than within Floyd itself.
History
19th-century surname dictionaries consistently connect Floyd with Lloyd and treat it as a Welsh-derived form that arose through English spelling and pronunciation habits. Lower explicitly lists Floyd as the same as Flood, while Bardsley notes its use as a variant of Lloyd. The surname is established in Britain and later became common in the United States, where it is well represented today.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname writers noticed that English speakers often struggled with the initial Welsh Ll sound in Lloyd, which helped produce spellings like Floyd.
From the historical record
“bearer. FLOWERS. See Flower. FLOYD. The same as Flood, which see. FOL FLOYER. Burke says, that the pedigree of tlie Floyers of co. Dorset is " authenti- cally deduced from Floierus, who settled soon after the Norman Conciucst on the lands beyond the river Exe, co. Devon,”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom