Steed
An English surname that usually comes from a word for a horse, though some families may instead descend from Stead.
The #3,484 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 30,122 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Steed is usually explained as coming from Middle English steed, meaning a horse, especially a riding horse or stallion; in older English it could also be used as a nickname. Some 19th-century writers also thought it might in some cases be the same as Stead, a separate surname from Old English stede, meaning a place, homestead, or standing-place. Because the historical sources do not agree completely, the horse-derived explanation is the safer general one, with some families possibly having a different origin.
History
The name appears in English records from at least the medieval and early modern periods. In surname dictionaries it is often grouped with related forms such as Steedman, and older researchers sometimes treated those as variants of Stead and Steadman. The surname is found in England and later in English-speaking countries, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some Victorian surname scholars linked Steed to the image of a horseman or charger, which is why it was sometimes compared with colorful nicknames like Hotspur.
From the historical record
“STEBBIN(G)S, pi., and genit., of Stebbing. STEDMAN = Steadman, q.v. STEED (Eng.) i = Stead, q.v. 2 a nickname from the Stallion [O.E. ' stidd] STEEDMAN = Steadman, q.v. STEEDS. pl„ and genit,, of steedi q.v, i88”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)