# Speed (surname)

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

A surname transferred from the nickname.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Origin | not recorded |
| Type | nickname, from a description or nickname of an ancestor |
| People in the US (2010 Census) | 7,255 |
| US rank (2010) | 4,859 of 162,253 |
| How often | about 1 in every 42,556 people |
| Change since 2000 | +2.4% (7,082 in 2000) |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |

## Etymology

* As an English surname, from Middle English sped (“good fortune”, literally “assistance, aid”). Also from the noun speed. * As an Irish surname, translated from Ó Fuada, from fuad (“haste, hurriedness”). See Foody. * As a German and Jewish surname, Americanized and translated from Schnell. * Most place names seem to taken from the surname.

## Who carries it

Share of people named Speed 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) | 59% |
| Black (not Hispanic) | 35% |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 2.3% |
| Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.7% |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.3% |
| Two or more races | 2.4% |

## Where

Wikidata records people named Speed in the United States.

## People named Speed

- Scott Speed, American racing driver
- James Speed, American lawyer and politician (1812–1887)
- Carol Speed, American actress, author, and singer-songwriter (1945–2022)

## Similar surnames

Spade, Sepeda, Swift, Spaeth, Swoboda, Spada, Spady, Speth, Sabado, Spath, Shibata, Subedi.

## 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.