From the Middle English, Wade is a given name. In Old English, it was spelled Wada. It was written wadan which means ‘to go’. Also during those early years there was a legendary sea-giant named Wada.

Another English meaning is someone who lived near a forde (farmland). In Dutch and North German language the term wade means ‘garment’ or ‘large net’.

The places of origin for most of the Wade surname are England and Ireland. Most Wade families of the 1880s were farmers.

The counties of Lancashire, Yorkshire and the London region have the largest numbers of Wade surnames in England. In Scotland the Wade name is in Lanarkshire, Midlothian and Renfrewshire counties.

In the United States the Wade family name is located primarily in the states of Ohio, Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Texas, Mississippi, Indiana, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Illinois.

Famous: Bob ‘Daddy-O’ Wade (artist associated with the Cosmic Cowboy culture of Texas), Bobby Wade (Irish soccer player during 1960s), Virginia Wade (English tennis player), Charles Wade (Premier of New South Wales, Australia from1907 to 1910), Thomas Wade (19thcentury English poet and dramatist), Dwyane Wade (professional basketball player with the Miami Heat), Jason Wade (singer and song writer) and Mark Sweeten Wade (early 20thcentury medical doctor and historian who wrote of British Columbia's early history and settlers).