Wade

Boy name variations

Family name origins & meanings

• English : from the Middle English personal name Wade, Old English Wada, from wadan ‘to go’. (Wada was the name of a legendary sea-giant.)
• English : topographic name for someone who lived near a ford, Old English (ge)wæd (of cognate origin to 1), or a habitational name from a place named with this word, as for example Wade in Suffolk.
• Dutch and North German : occupational name or nickname from Middle Dutch, Middle Low German wade ‘garment’, ‘large net’.
• Jonathan Wade emigrated from Norfolk, England, to Medford, MA, in 1632. Benjamin Franklin Wade (1800–1878), born near Springfield, MA, was a prominent U.S. senator from OH during the Civil War.