The ancestry of the name Heade dates from the ancient Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain. It comes from when the family lived near a hill or near the source of a stream or the head of a valley. The name was originally derived from the Old English heafod, which meant head. The surname Heade belongs to the class of topographic surnames, which were given to people who resided near physical features such as hills, streams, churches, or types of trees. Heade may have also been a nickname given to someone with a large head or with some other peculiarity of the head.
The surname Heade was first found in Norfolk, but we must look to Nottinghamshire to find the first listing of the name, Thomas del Heved who was listed there in the Hundredorum Rolls of 1273. [1] The same roll has lists the spelling as Hedde and the old Anglo-Saxon spelling Heved. (BP)
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Heade research. Another 76 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1275, 1737, 1609, 1689, 1667, 1679, 1637, 1686, 1628 and 1641 are included under the topic Early Heade History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Heade have been found, including Head, Heade, Heads, Heed and others.
More information is included under the topic Early Heade Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the Heade family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt.
Another 121 words (9 lines of text) about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers because of the political and religious discontent in England. Often faced with persecution and starvation in England, the possibilities of the New World attracted many English people. Although the ocean trips took many lives, those who did get to North America were instrumental in building the necessary groundwork for what would become for new powerful nations. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America bore the name Heade, or a variant listed above: