Wade (surname)

The given name Wade, from which the surname may be derived, was first recorded in the "little" Domesday Book for Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex in 1086 as "Wada", "Wade" and "Wado", owing its popularity to the legend of Wade, a sea-giant, who was dreaded and honored by the coastal tribes of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.[1] The first recording of Wade as a surname is from this source.[1] The Old English word "(ge)waed" meaning "ford," may either be a topographical name to denote someone who lived by a ford, or a locational name from a place known as Wade, such as "Wade" in the county of Suffolk in East Anglia in the East of England.[1] The surname is historically concentrated in the East of England, particularly in and around the counties of Suffolk and Essex, suggesting that this region may be the surname's likely area of origin.

The first recorded spelling of the surname as "Wade" specifically, is shown to be that of Godwin Wade, dated 1166 in the "Pipe Rolls of Essex", during the reign of King Henry II (1154–1189).[1]

The official use of surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation.[7] Until the gradual standardization of English spelling in the last few centuries, English lacked any comprehensive system of spelling. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents, meaning that a person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. As such, different variations of the Wade surname usually have the same origin.[2]

Variants of this surname include Waide and Wadey, the latter a diminutive variant.[5] There is also a documented relationship between Wade and Waythe, the latter derived by a variant form of "wade" meaning a ford, that being "wath"; there is likewise a relationship between Wade/Waythe and Ford/Forth.[8]

The Wade surname also spread throughout the rest of the British Isles, and this is evidenced by its presence in many medieval manuscripts in Ireland, Scotland and Wales.[3] In Ireland, the name is of English, Gaelic and Norman French origin, having been spread throughout the islands by Norman French settlers in the 13th century (De la Wade), and English settlers, particularly in the 17th century. The name was then gaelicized in many cases, becoming MacWade, MacUaid, MacQuaid and Quaid.[3]

• Wade, Stuart Charles (1900). The Wade Genealogy. New York: Stuart C. Wade – via Internet Archive.

• Justice Wade (disambiguation)