Eide
A surname most likely from a Norse word for an oath, or from place-names built on that root.
The #9,217 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 87,315 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Eide is best understood as a Norwegian surname connected with Old Norse eyða/eið, commonly the word for an oath and also the basis of many place-names. In Norway, names of this type were often taken from farms or localities rather than invented as family names in the modern sense. The literal sense is therefore usually tied either to an oath-related word or to a settlement name built from that older element.
History
The surname is most strongly associated with Norway and later with Norwegian emigrant communities abroad, including the United States. In modern records it is often treated as a habitational surname from a farm or place called Eide, a very common naming pattern in Norway. The name’s spelling has remained relatively stable, though pronunciation may vary by region and country.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because Eide is also a common place-name element in Norway, many unrelated families can share the same surname without being closely related.
From the historical record
“the way. Nutliing ia better for this jmrjwHe than a glove, for he will uot Htir till he has turned every finger of it i&eide out, aiid as they are not very (K'xtcroiia with their pftwa, this titkea tip nomo timp, and in Uiu nicunwhik ih« makes off I"”
— English Surnames, and their place in the Teutonic family