The Rhoads surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 13,389 people carried this name — #2,690 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 22,000 people counted. That is up 3% from 13,008 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Rhoads surname

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘of Rhodes’ — the first of the origins he gives.

His entry covers Rhodes and Rhoads.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 644 · public domain.

In print

Rhoads in American newspapers,
1918–1924.

Newspaper page from Estancia News-herald carrying the name Rhoads
Estancia News-herald 1918-08-01
Newspaper page from The Circle Banner carrying the name Rhoads
The Circle Banner 1924-11-07
Newspaper page from The Circle Banner carrying the name Rhoads
The Circle Banner 1924-04-11

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 56,605 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Rhoads in Australian newspapers,
1900s–1940s.

60 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Rhoads. The most, 18, date from the 1930s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Queensland, at 2.2 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Queensland 28
New South Wales 15
Western Australia 6
South Australia 5
Victoria 3
Tasmania 2
ACT (Canberra) 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Rhoads.

Who carried it

People named Rhoads,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Ella Higginson
    Ella Higginson 1861–1940 · writer
  • Samuel Nicholson Rhoads
    Samuel Nicholson Rhoads 1862–1952 · zoologist
  • Eugene Saylor Rhoads
    Eugene Saylor Rhoads 1891–1975 · military personnel
  • Samuel Rhoads 1711–1784 · politician
  • Arthur Stevens Rhoads 1893– · botanist
  • Norman Rhoads Garrett 1896–1981 · photographer

Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Rhoads,
in the records of 4 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States769 records

769 records of the Rhoads name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 497
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 169
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 46
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 22
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 16
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 7
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 6
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 2
  • Sacramento County historic burials 2
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 2
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Cecil E. Rhoads

    Born 1906 in Iowa. Enlisted 1941 at Portland, Oregon; farm hand from Clackamas County, Oregon. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1982, buried at Willamette National Cemetery, Oregon.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Vivan Wallace Rhoads

    Born 1930; from Henry County, Missouri. U.S. Army, light weapons infantryman; declared dead 1950 in North Korea.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record John Rhoads

    Arrived at New York in 1851 aboard the Adriatic from Liverpool, aged 30; laborer. From Great Britain.

    U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain)

Showing 3 of 769 records for Rhoads in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia3 records

3 records of the Rhoads name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 2
  • State Library of Western Australia indexes 1
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Biographical index Leona Bell Rhoads

    In the Western Australian Biographical Index; born 1907.

    State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 1 of 3 records for Rhoads in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Canada2 records

2 records of the Rhoads name in Canada
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 1
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 1
  1. A Canadian First World War grave register card for a soldier who died of wounds in 1917
    Example: Canadian war grave register, 1917
    War record George Arthur Rhoads

    Died in service in 1919.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Civil record John Rhoads

    Listed at Falmouth, Hants, Nova Scotia in the census and tax rolls of 1795.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Counts: Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

New Zealand1 record

1 record of the Rhoads name in New Zealand Christchurch City cemetery records
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Matthew Aaron Rhoads

    Died 1999, aged 26; buried at Belfast Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Rhoads.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Rhoads 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.

See the Rhoads volume
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