Heede is a name of ancient Anglo-Saxon origin and comes from the family once having 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 Heede 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. Heede may have also been a nickname given to someone with a large head or with some other peculiarity of the head.
The surname Heede 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 Heede research. Another 76 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1275, 1737, 1609, 1689, 1667, 1679, 1637 and 1686 are included under the topic Early Heede History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Heede family name include Head, Heade, Heads, Heed and others.
Another 34 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Heede Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Some of the Heede family moved to Ireland, but this topic is not covered in this excerpt. More information about their life in Ireland is included in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Heede surname or a spelling variation of the name include: