Shreve
An English surname most likely from sheriff or local office-holder, though one older source also linked it to Shrewsbury.
The #5,503 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 48,844 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The best-supported explanation is that Shreve is a variant of Sheriff, from Middle English shrieve/schyreve, meaning a sheriff or shire-reeve, the royal officer in charge of a county. Older surname books also record Shreeve and Shreve as spellings of this title. One 19th-century source, however, also suggested a connection with Shrewsbury for some bearers, so the surname may have more than one historical line.
History
The name appears in English records in several spellings, including Shreeve and Shreve, and was used as both a hereditary surname and an occupational label. In England it is associated especially with official or administrative usage, and the same form later appears in colonial and American records. Because spelling was fluid, families with this surname may not all share the same original meaning.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The older form shrieve is the source of the modern word sheriff, so the surname preserves an old county-office title in disguise.
From the historical record
“SHREEVE SHREVE \ = Sherplff, q.v. SHRIEVE J SHRE;WSBURY (Eng.) Bel. to Shrewsbury, the A.-Sax. Scrobbesburh — Scrobb's Stronghold [the pers. name (in the genit.) is a masc. var. of O.E. scrybh, underwood + burh, a fortified place] Richard, the son of Scrob, as well as Richard's son Osberti, held lands under King…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)