Reedy
A surname usually treated as a variant of Ready or Reed, and sometimes linked to the reed plant or a reed-grown place.
The #3,017 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 25,980 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Historical surname writers often treated Reedy as a spelling variant of Ready, and in some cases related it to Reed. If taken from Reed, the name could point to the reed plant or to someone who lived near a reedy, marshy place. In Irish contexts, Reedy is also often connected with forms of Reidy/Ready, which may reflect anglicized Gaelic surnames rather than the English word alone.
History
The surname appears in English-language records with several overlapping spellings, which makes its exact origin difficult to pin down. Nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century authorities did not agree fully, and some grouped Reedy with locational or descriptive names rather than a single fixed source. Today it is found in both English and Irish family lines, with spelling variation part of its history.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some old surname dictionaries treated Reedy simply as a pronunciation-based spelling of Ready, showing how fluid English surname spelling could be.
From the historical record
“REEDER = Reader, q.v. REEDY = Ready, q.v. REEK, a Scot. dim. of Rtckard, Richard, q.v. REEKIE, a Scot, double dim. of Rickard, Richard, q.v. [E. dim. buff, -ie, -y] REEKS, Reek's (Son) : v. Reek. REEN (Celt;) Dweller at k Point of Land, Promontory [Gael. r(o)inn = Ir. rinn”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)