Cloud
Usually an English surname from a place-name or topographic nickname, though in Scotland it can also reflect MacLeod.
The #2,478 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 21,212 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The English surname Cloud is generally explained as a local or topographic name, likely referring to someone who lived near a hill, bank, or other rising piece of ground; some older writers also linked it with a form meaning a clod or lump of earth. In Scotland, however, Cloud can be a reduced or altered form of MacLeod, so the same spelling may have more than one origin. Because of that, the surname is best treated as having multiple possible roots rather than a single fixed derivation.
History
Bardsley and Lower both note Cloud as an English surname in their historical name lists, while Lower specifically remarks that Scottish M'Cloud is a corruption of Mac Leod. The name is recorded in England in early modern parish and directory material, and it also appears in American records. In modern usage it remains uncommon but is straightforwardly recognizable as an English word-name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname is a nice example of how the same spelling can conceal two very different family histories: an English topographic name or a Scottish MacLeod form.
From the historical record
“of cloth, or a dealer in tliat article. CLOUD. In Scotland, M'Cloud is the corruption of Mac Leod. CLOUGH. A ravine, glen, or deep descent between hills. N. of Eng. Cloff, Scotl. The Cloughs of Plas-Clough claim a Norman origin, from the Seigneurs de Eohan, and appeal to their name and arms for proof. B.L.G. To my…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom