The Speight surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,445 people carried this name — #6,276 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 54,100 people counted. That is up 4% from 5,237 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Speight surname

English surname, from the noun speight (“woodpecker”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Speight» (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 nickname: ‘the speight’.

His entry covers Speight and Speaight.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 706 · public domain.

In print

Speight in American newspapers,
1832–1924.

Newspaper page from The West Virginia News carrying the name Speight
The West Virginia News 1924-07-19
Newspaper page from The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer carrying the name Speight
The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer 1883-07-17
Newspaper page from Litchfield Enquirer carrying the name Speight
Litchfield Enquirer 1832-12-13

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 18,324 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Speight in Australian newspapers,
1840s–2000s.

31,462 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Speight. The most, 14,133, date from the 1890s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in Victoria, at 2.1 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

Victoria 18,486
New South Wales 5,331
South Australia 2,291
Western Australia 2,101
Queensland 1,722
Tasmania 1,442
ACT (Canberra) 63
Northern Territory 15

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

Who carried it

People named Speight,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Jesse Speight
    Jesse Speight 1795–1847 · politician
  • Clara E. Speight-Humberston
    Clara E. Speight-Humberston 1862–1936 · scientist
  • Robert Speight
    Robert Speight 1867–1949 · geologist
  • Francis C. Speight 1816–1877 · police officer
  • Thomas Wilkinson Speight 1830–1915 · writer
  • Richard Speight 1838–1901 · politician

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 Speight,
in the records of 5 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 States357 records

357 records of the Speight name in the United States
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 193
  • U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 68
  • New York City birth, marriage and death certificates 38
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 30
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 12
  • New York State death index (outside NYC), 1957–2001 10
  • U.S. service members who died in the Vietnam War 4
  • U.S. service members who died in the Korean War 2
  1. Names engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
    Example: U.S. war memorial
    War record Johnnie Moses Speight

    Born 1948; from Farmville, North Carolina. U.S. Marine Corps, motor vehicle operator; killed in action 1969 in Quang Nam, South Vietnam. Buried at St Delight Cemetery, Walstonburg, North Carolina.

    U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Finis E. Speight

    Born 1924 in Tennessee. Enlisted 1943 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri; farm hand. U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II; died 1996, buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Dexter, Missouri.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record John Speight

    Arrived at New York in 1857 aboard the Marcia C Day from Liverpool, aged 26; farm laborer. From England.

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

Showing 3 of 357 records for Speight 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, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · 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, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia125 records

125 records of the Speight name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 53
  • Tasmanian Names Index 38
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 14
  • Queensland State Archives indexes 10
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 8
  • State Library of Western Australia indexes 2
  1. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record Robert Speight

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Henry Porcher, arriving 1835.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)
  2. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Charles Speight

    Arrived in Victoria in 1853 aboard the Albatross, aged 28; English.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Ellen Speight

    Died 1883 in Deloraine, Tasmania, aged 67.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 125 records for Speight in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Canada26 records

26 records of the Speight name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 13
  • City of Calgary cemetery records 5
  • Canadian Virtual War Memorial 4
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 2
  • City of Niagara Falls (Ontario) cemetery records 1
  • City of Waterloo (Ontario) cemetery records 1
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Patrick Sterling Speight

    Buried in 1973 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 23.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record John S. Speight

    Died 1931 in Amherst, Cumberland, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.
  3. 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 Arthur Norman Speight

    Died in service in 1918.

    Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada.

Showing 3 of 26 records for Speight in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Canadian First World War circumstances-of-death register (scan by Scottgraham87 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).

United Kingdom22 records

22 records of the Speight name in the United Kingdom
  • War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 21
  • Scottish rolls of honour, First World War 1
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record Harold Edwin Balme Speight

    Born 1887 at Bradford. Served in the First World War. Named in the University of Aberdeen roll of service in the Great War, 1914-1919.

    National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain)
  2. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. R. Speight

    Lincolnshire Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1919.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  3. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record J. W. Speight

    York and Lancaster Regiment. Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1917.

    National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)

Showing 3 of 22 records for Speight in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Netherlands3 records

3 records of the Speight name in the Netherlands Dutch population registers
  1. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Population register Marta Lamé Speight

    In the population register of Amsterdam; born 1851 in Hull.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Amsterdam (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Population register Benjamin Speight

    In the population register of Amsterdam; born 1842 in Hull.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Amsterdam (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the 1910 United States census, Milwaukee
    Example: U.S. census, 1910
    Population register Joseph Speight

    In the population register of Amsterdam; born 1822 in Leeds.

    Open Archives, Stadsarchief Amsterdam (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Speight.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Speight 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.

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