Pounds
A rare English surname that may come from a nickname, a place-name, or an older personal-name form—its exact origin is not firmly settled.
The #5,121 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 45,151 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The historical evidence for Pounds is thin, and the surname is not securely explained in the classic dictionaries. A likely starting point is the Middle English word pound, which could refer to a money unit, an enclosure, or a place where animals were impounded; surnames from such words often began as nicknames or locative labels. It is also possible that some examples reflect an older personal name or a lost local form, but the surviving sources here do not identify a single clear derivation.
History
Pounds is an uncommon surname in England and, later, the United States. Because the name is not treated in the provided excerpts as a settled headword, its history is best regarded as mixed and potentially from more than one source family. Modern bearers in the U.S. are likely descended from one or more small regional English lines rather than from a single widespread origin.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The surname can be easily confused with the common noun pound, but in surname studies the plural-looking ending often does not mean a true plural at all.
From the historical record
“head, and Whitehead will be found in abnndance. ' We find Anne Griselwhite mentioned in Blomefieid's History of Norfolk (v. Index), Many of these com- pounds survive, many are extinct. Mental and Moral Peculiarities, This is an extremely lai^e class. Kindly qualities are represented by Make- peace or Makejoy …”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances