# Read (surname)

Source: https://namelineage.com/surname/read/  
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, a less common spelling variant of Reid.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | not recorded |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 17,048 |
| US rank (2010) | 2,127 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 18,110 people |
| Change since 2000 | +1.9% (16,736 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

English and Scottish surname, variant of Reed.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Read 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) | 2.7% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 3.8% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.6% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4% |
| Two or more races | 1.3% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Read in the United States, the Kingdom of Great Britain and the United Kingdom.

## People named Read

- George Read, American politician (1733-1798)
- James Read, American actor
- Leonard Read, American academic
- Jason Read, American rower
- Jacob Read, American politician (1752-1816)
- Thomas Buchanan Read, American artist (1822-1872)
- Catherine Read, British artist (1723-1778)
- Gardner Read, American composer (1913-2005)
- Therica Wilson-Read, British actress

## Similar surnames

Reed, Reid, Redd, Reddy, Reedy, Ready, Reidy, Reda, Rada, Red, Reade, Reta.

## 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.