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Weed History Etymology Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Motto Suggested Reading Citations

Weed History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Etymology of Weed

What does the name Weed mean?

Weed is a name of ancient Norman origin. It arrived in England with the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Weed family lived in Buckinghamshire, on Whielden Lane, Amersham. Today Weedon is a village and also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district to the north of Aylesbury and south of Hardwick in Buckinghamshire.

Early Origins of the Weed family

The surname Weed was first found in Northamptonshire where they held a family seat at two villages called Weedon Beck and Weedon Lois. They held these lands from the Count of Mortain, and were conjecturally descended from Hugh of Grand Mesnil in Normandy. The poet, Dame Edith Sitwell, is buried in the village.

Early rolls give a glimpse of the many spellings in use at the time. Robert de Wedonia was listed in Northamptonshire c. 1160. In Berkshire Ralph de Wedon was listed there in 1207 and the Feet of Fines for Warwickshire included an entry for William Wedon 1396-1397. 1

The root name was found in the Hundredorum Rolls for Dorset in 1273 as William Wede. William le Weed was found in the Subsidy Rolls for Sussex in 1296. 1

Another source notes the Hundredorum Rolls include: John de Wedon, Buckinghamshire; and Ralph de Wedone, Bedfordshire. 2 The Testa de Nevill, sive Liber Feodorum, temp. Henry III-Edward I. includes an entry for Nicholas de Wedon, Nottinghamshire, Henry III-Edward I. 3

Early History of the Weed family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Weed research. Another 109 words (8 lines of text) covering the years 1582, 1606, 1608, 1611, 1612, 1734, 1777 and 1793 are included under the topic Early Weed History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Weed Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, Anglo-Norman surnames like Weed are characterized by many spelling variations. Scribes and monks in the Middle Ages spelled names they sounded, so it is common to find several variations that refer to a single person. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages such as Norman French and Latin, even literate people regularly changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Weed include Weedon, Weeden, Weeton, Weton, Wedon and others.

Early Notables of the Weed family

Outstanding amongst the family at this time was

George Weedon (1734-1793), American soldier during the Revolutionary War from Fredericksburg, Colony of Virginia...
Weedon was promoted to brigadier general in 1777...

Weed Ranking

In the United States, the name Weed is the 3,908^th most popular surname with an estimated 7,461 people with that name. 4

Weed migration to the United States +

Faced with the chaos present in England at that time, many English families looked towards the open frontiers of the New World with its opportunities to escape oppression and starvation. People migrated to North America, as well as Australia and Ireland in droves, paying exorbitant rates for passages in cramped, unsafe ships. Many of the settlers did not make the long passage alive, but those who did see the shores of North America were welcomed with great opportunity. Many of the families that came from England went on to make essential contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America carried the name Weed, or a variant listed above:

Weed Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

Jonas Weed who arrived in Salem, Massachusetts in 1630 aboard the ship "Ambrose" as part of the Winthrop Fleet, found in Watertown. 5
Hen Weed, who landed in Virginia in 1653 5

Weed Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

S Weed, who landed in San Francisco, California in 1855 5

Weed migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Weed Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

Mr. James Weed U.E. who settled in Bell Vue, Beaver Harbor, Charlotte County, New Brunswick c. 1783 listed as a child less than 10 years of age 6
Mr. Jonas Weed U.E. who settled in Bell Vue, Beaver Harbor, Charlotte County, New Brunswick c. 1783 6

Weed migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Weed Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Mr. David Weed, (b. 1818), aged 20, Scottish weaver who was convicted in Edinburgh, Scotland for 14 years for assault, transported aboard the "Coromandel" on 25th June 1838, arriving in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 7

Contemporary Notables of the name Weed (post 1700) +

Abner Edward Weed (1842-1917), American soldier in the American Civil War with Company C and was present at Appomattox, Virginia, to witness Lee's surrender to Grant
Speed Weed, American television writer and producer, known for his work on NCIS: Los Angeles, Political Animals, and for Haven
Charles Leander Weed (1824-1903), American photographer
Robert Law Weed (1897-1961), American architect
Susun Weed, American herbalist, author, and director of the Wise Woman Center
Robert C Weed Jr. (b. 1955), American golf course designer, builder, and protégé of Pete Dye
Albert Charles Weed, Virginia winemaker, businessman, and Democrat
Thurlow "Tad" Weed (1933-2006), American placekicker for the Ohio State Buckeyes
Brigadier General Stephen Hinsdale Weed (1831-1863), career military officer in the United States Army
Thurlow Weed (1797-1882), New York political boss
... (Another 38 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

The Weed Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Credo
Motto Translation: I Believe.

Citations +

Reaney, P.H and R.M. Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames. London: Routledge, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-415-05737-X)
Bardsley, C.W, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames: With Special American Instances. Wiltshire: Heraldry Today, 1901. Print. (ISBN 0-900455-44-6)
Testa de Nevill or "Liber Feodorum" or "Book of Fees," thought to have been written by Ralph de Nevill, for King John (1199–1216)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
Rubincam, Milton. The Old United Empire Loyalists List. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc, 1976. (Originally published as; United Empire Loyalists. The Centennial of the Settlement of Upper Canada. Rose Publishing Company, 1885.) ISBN 0-8063-0331-X
Convict Records Voyages to Australia (Retrieved 19th March 2021). Retrieved from https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/coromandel