Meadows
A topographic surname for someone who lived by a meadow or meadows.
The #773 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 6,938 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Meadows is a topographic surname from Old English words for a meadow or grassy lowland. The name originally described a person who lived at or near the meadows, rather than one who worked them. Historical sources also note that the final -s is often part of the surname form itself, not necessarily a true plural.
History
The surname appears in medieval records in forms such as atte Mede and later Meadows, Meddows, and Meadowes. It became established in England and later spread to North America and other English-speaking regions. Because it is a common landscape name, it developed independently in more than one place.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Older surname dictionaries explicitly compare Meadows with other place-based names like Brooks, Bridges, and Sykes, where the final -s is part of the inherited surname pattern.
From the historical record
“Old Ballad, Notes and Q., 1854, X.480 MEADOWS (Eng.) Dweller at the Grass- Lands [O.E. moedwe, dat. of meed, a meadow] MEADS (Eng.) pi, or genit., of Mead, q.v. MEAGER (Eng. or A.-Fr.-Lat.) Lean, Thin, Meagre [M.E. megre, O.Fr. maigre, Lat. macer, lean : cp. O.E. mceger= O.N. magr=”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)