The Reed surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 277,030 people carried this name — #73 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 1,060 people counted. That is up 4% from 267,443 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Reed surname
A surname from Old English, a spelling variant of Reid.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Reed» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
71 people named Reed live in Switzerland.
They live in 11 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 50 people named Reed.
Most of them — 39 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 6 départements, most often Guadeloupe.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 27 people named Reed live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Poland’s population register
24 people named Reed have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 96 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 6 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Lesser Poland.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In the Nordic population registers
541 people named Reed are counted in Norway, Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Norway publishes only surnames with 200 or more bearers. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Statistics Norway (SSB, ssb.no), table 12891, 2025 — CC BY 4.0 · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
In print
Reed in American newspapers,
1880–1915.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 2,350,448 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Reed,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Isaac Reed 1742–1807 · writer -
Philip Reed 1760–1829 · politician -
William Reed 1776–1837 · politician -
James F. Reed 1800–1874 -
Henry Hope Reed 1808–1854
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 139 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Reed.
- Redler 380 · U.S. census
- Redo 202 · U.S. census
- Redon 139 · U.S. census
- Redondo 2,276 · U.S. census
- Redoutey 148 · U.S. census
- Reeb 1,436 · U.S. census
- Rees 12,754 · U.S. census
- Reff 657 · U.S. census
- Rega 969 · U.S. census
- Regal 1,157 · U.S. census
- Regaldo 241 · U.S. census
- Regazzi 189 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Reed is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.