# Mead (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/mead/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. Counts from the US Census Bureau; origin and etymology from Wiktionary; bearers from Wikidata. Data updated 2026-11-11.

A surname from Old English.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | English |
| Type | occupational, named after the work an ancestor did |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 22,727 |
| US rank (2010) | 1,578 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 13,585 people |
| Change since 2000 | +3.7% (21,919 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | Meade, Meades |

## Etymology

Two main origins: * A topographic surname for someone who lived by a meadow, from Old English mǣd (“meadow”). * A metonymic occupational surname for a brewer or seller of mead, from Old English medu (“mead”).

## Who carries it

Share of people named Mead in the 2010 US Census by the Census's own race and ethnicity groups. The Census suppresses a share when the count behind it is small.

| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| White (not Hispanic) | 91% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 2.6% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.6% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 1.0% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7% |
| Two or more races | 1.7% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Mead in the United States.

## People named Mead

- Margaret Mead, American anthropologist (1901-1978)
- George Herbert Mead, American philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist (1863–1931)
- Matt Mead, American lawyer and politician, 32nd Governor of Wyoming
- Richelle Mead, American writer
- Syd Mead, American concept artist (1933–2019)
- Andrea Mead Lawrence, alpine skier (1932-2009)
- Carver Mead, American computer scientist (born 1934)
- Nicholas Mead, American rower
- Courtland Mead, American actor
- William Rutherford Mead, American architect (1846–1928)
- Taylor Mead, American writer (1924–2013)
- James M. Mead, American politician (1885–1964)

and 4 more on Wikidata.

## Similar surnames

Meade, Maeda, Moody, Mata, Mott, Mota, Mehta, Mathew, Mateo, Matthew, Mudd, Mathieu.

## How to read these numbers

A Census count is people alive and counted in 2010, not births, and names occurring fewer than 100 times are not published at all. Ethnicity shares are the Census's own categories.