Meade
Usually an English surname for someone who lived by a meadow, though in Ireland it often reflects the Gaelic name Meagh.
The #1,631 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 13,976 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In English use, Meade is a spelling variant of Mead, from Old English and Middle English words for a meadow or pasture. It began as a topographic surname for someone who lived by a meadow. In Ireland, however, Meade is also an anglicized form of the old Irish name Meagh, so the surname has more than one origin path.
History
English records show Mead and Meade as medieval and later surname spellings tied to place-by-meadow meanings. In Ireland, the name became established as a family surname in Cork, where the Meagh/Meade family is historically prominent and associated with Meadestown. The spelling Meade also spread in English-speaking areas through later standardization and migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
19th-century surname dictionaries sometimes treated Meade as both an English meadow-name and an Irish family name, reflecting its mixed history.
From the historical record
“MEAD \ (Eng.) Dweller at a Meadow [O.E. MEADE J meed'] Robert atte Mede.— Pari. Writs. MEADER (Eng.) i = Mead (q.v.)-l-the agent, suff. -er. 2 Mower ' [O.E. mm^ere] The meader walks forth with his scythe on his shoulder. —”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)