The Snead surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 10,500 people carried this name — #3,407 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 28,100 people counted. That is up 5% from 10,022 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Snead surname

Variant of Sneed.

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Snead» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

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

His entry covers Snead, Sneed and Sneyd.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 700 · public domain.

In the first U.S. census, 1790

45 families named Snead, or a close spelling, were counted in 1790.

Each family is counted by its head. About 221 people lived in those households, 4.9 to a family on average. The table counts it together with 2 other spellings. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.

Families, by state

North Carolina 25
Virginia 11
Maryland 5
South Carolina 4

U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 262 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.

In print

Snead in American newspapers,
1912.

Newspaper page from The Ekalaka Eagle carrying the name Snead
The Ekalaka Eagle 1912-02-16
Newspaper page from The Ekalaka Eagle carrying the name Snead
The Ekalaka Eagle 1912-02-09
Newspaper page from The Ekalaka Eagle carrying the name Snead
The Ekalaka Eagle 1912-02-16

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 41,079 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Snead in Australian newspapers,
1830s–1960s.

1,125 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Snead. The most, 349, date from the 1870s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 2.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 851
New South Wales 103
South Australia 81
Queensland 53
Tasmania 17
Western Australia 17

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

Who carried it

People named Snead,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Fletcher Tillman Snead
    Fletcher Tillman Snead 1829–1891
  • Mary Long Wardlaw
    Mary Long Wardlaw 1848–1937
  • Louise Hammond Willis Snead
    Louise Hammond Willis Snead 1866–1958 · writer
  • Louise Hammond Willis Snead
    Louise Hammond Willis Snead 1866–1958 · writer
  • Louise Hammond Willis Snead
    Louise Hammond Willis Snead 1868–1958 · writer
  • Judith Snead 1665–1719

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 Snead,
in the records of 3 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 States632 records

632 records of the Snead name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 381
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 141
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 70
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 14
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 13
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 8
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 4
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 1
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Carlton Snead

    Born 1918 in Virginia. Enlisted 1943 at Charlottesville; gardener from Goochland County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1983, buried at Quantico National Cemetery, Virginia.

    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 Lawrence L. Snead

    Born 1930; from Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. U.S. Army, field artillery cannoneer; declared dead 1951 in South 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 Thomas Snead

    Arrived at New York in 1874 aboard the City of Chester from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 40; merchant.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 632 records for Snead 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) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · 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). 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).

Australia34 records

34 records of the Snead name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 27
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 4
  • Tasmanian Names Index 3
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Mary Snead

    Arrived in Victoria in 1854 aboard the Oracle, aged 50; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record William Buckley Snead

    Died 1855 in Clarence, Tasmania, aged 40.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record George A. Snead

    Former storekeeper of Croxton, Victoria; died 1938.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 34 records for Snead in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

Canada4 records

4 records of the Snead name in Canada
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 2
  • City of Winnipeg cemetery records 2
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Thomas Joseph Snead

    Died 1945; buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.
  2. 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 Frederick Charles Snead

    Died in service in 1941.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Sarah Snead

    Died 1952; buried at Brookside Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

    City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg.

Showing 3 of 4 records for Snead in Canada.

Counts: Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Snead.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Snead 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 Snead volume
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