Wade (surname)
Wade | |
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![]() The East of England, the likely region of origin of the Wade surname | |
Pronunciation | we͡ɪd |
Origin | |
Region of origin |
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Word/Name | Middle English, Old English |
Meaning | "To go," "Ford" |
Other names | |
Variant(s) | Waide, Waid, Wayde, Wadey, De la Wade, Waad, Wadeson, Waidson, Waythe, MacWade, MacUaid, MacQuaid, Quaid[1][2][3] |
![](../I/m/Ford-Across-the-Way.jpg)
Wade is a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin.[2] It is thought to derive from the Middle English given name "Wade," which itself derived from the pre-7th century Old English verb "wadan" (wada) meaning "to go," or as a habitational name from the Old English word "(ge)waed" meaning "ford."[4][5][6]
Origins and variants
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]
Wade in Ireland
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]
Notable people with the surname
- Abdoulaye Wade (born 1926), President of Senegal
- April Wade, American actress and producer
- Benjamin Wade (1800–1878), American lawyer and United States Senator from Ohio
- Bernie L. Wade (born 1963), American minister, President of the International Circle of Faith
- Bill Wade (born 1930), former American footballer
- Bobby Wade (born 1981), American footballer
- Charles Wade (1863–1922), Premier of New South Wales (1907–10)
- Chris Wade (real estate broker), real estate broker involved in the American Whitewater scandal
- Christopher Wade, English martyr
- Cory Wade (born 1983), American Major League Baseball player
- David Wade (general) (1911–1990), American lieutenant general
- David Wade (politician) (born 1950), Australian former politician
- Dean Wade (born 1996), American basketball player
- Donald Wade, Baron Wade (1904–1988), British Liberal Party politician
- Doug Wade (born 1941), former Australian rules footballer
- Dwyane Wade (born 1982), American basketball player
- Ed Wade (born 1956), general manager of the Major League Baseball Houston Astros
- George Wade (1673–1748), British military commander
- Henry Wade (1914–2001), Texas lawyer and lead defendant in Roe v. Wade
- Henry William Rawson Wade (commonly known as William Wade; 1918–2004), British legal academic
- Henry Wade, pen name of British mystery writer Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Baronet (1887-1969)
- James Wade (born 1983), English darts player
- Jason Wade (born 1980), singer/songwriter
- Jeremy Wade (born 1956), British TV presenter (River Monsters) and fishing author
- John Francis Wade (1711–1786), English composer
- Joseph Augustine Wade (1796–1845), Irish composer
- Logan Wade (born 1991), Australian baseball player
- Mark Wade (born 1965), American retired basketball player
- Mark Sweeten Wade (1859–1929), Canadian medical doctor and historian
- Martin Joseph Wade (1861–1931), U.S. Democratic Representative from Iowa
- Mary Wade (1777–1859), the youngest convict transported to Australia aboard the Lady Juliana
- Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade (1860–1936), American writer
- Mary Virginia "Ginnie" Wade (1843-1863), the only civilian casualty in the Battle of Gettysburg
- Mary Wade (paleontologist) (1928–2005), Australian paleontologist
- Matthew Wade (born 1987), Australian cricketer
- Michael Wade, deceased Canadian actor
- Nicholas Wade (born 1942 in England), US science writer and author
- Oulton Wade, Baron Wade of Chorlton (1932–2018), British politician and businessman
- Paul Wade (born 1962), retired Australian footballer
- Rebekah Wade, English journalist
- Robert Wade (disambiguation)
- Rosalind Wade (1909–1989), British novelist
- Scott Wade (born 1960), former Australian rules footballer
- Terence Wade (1930–2005), English academic and linguist
- Thomas M. Wade (1860-1929), American politician and educator
- Thomas Wade (writer) (1805–1875), English poet and dramatist
- Thomas Francis Wade (1818–1895), British diplomat and sinologist
- Thomas James Wade (1893-1969), American Roman Catholic bishop
- Virginia Wade (born 1945), tennis player from the United Kingdom
- Wallace Wade (1892–1986), American college sports coach
- Wayne Wade (born 1959), Jamaican reggae musician
- William H. Wade (born 1835), American politician
Notes
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Last name: Wade". surnamedb.com. Retrieved 03 July 2018
- 1 2 3 "Wade History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms". houseofnames.com. Retrieved 03 July 2018
- 1 2 3 "Wade Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Wade Family History". irishsurnames.com. Retrieved 06 July 2018
- ↑ Hanks, Patrick & Hodges, Flavia. A Dictionary of Surnames (Oxford University Press, 1988); s.v. Wade OCLC 18191308
- 1 2 Harrison, Henry (2013). Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary. Assisted by Gyda Pulling (Reprint ed.). Genealogical Publishing Company. pp. 256&ndash, 7. ISBN 9780806301716 – via Google Books.
- ↑ Lower, Mark Antony (1860). Patronymica Britannica: A Dictionary of the Family names of the United Kingdom. Great Britain: J. R. Smith. p. 368. OCLC 4118298 – via Google Books.
- ↑ "Last name: Wade". surnamedb.com. Retrieved 03 July 2018
- ↑ Bardsley, Charles Wareing (1901). A dictionary of English and Welsh surnames. Revised posthumously for the press by his Widow. Henry Frowde. p. 786. OCLC 867884157 – via Google Books.
Further reading
- Wade, Stuart Charles (1900). The Wade Genealogy. New York: Stuart C. Wade – via Google Books.