Meade

Boys' name

Meathman, a native of Meath

Meade has been given to 521 babies in the U.S. since 1913. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1918, with 20 recorded.

Babies named Meade, 2013

1 in 729,000

Meade over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Meade: meaning, origin, and history

Meathman, a native of Meath

surname transfer

What Meade means

Meade means “Meathman, a native of Meath”, associated with Míoch.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Two main origins: * A variant of Mead, a topographic or occupational surname. * Anglicized form of Irish Midheach, superseded spelling of Míoch (“Meathman, a native of Meath”).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Meade (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Meade is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Meade comes through Irish Midheach.

Meade is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Mead and Midheach.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Meade is pronounced /ˈmiːd/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 515 boys were recorded with the name Meade between 1913 and 2013. Its highest annual count was 20 in 1918; its best national rank was #1,659 in 1914.

In the United States, 6 girls were recorded with the name Meade between 1982 and 1982. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1982; its best national rank was #9,986 in 1982.

How common is Meade?

Meade had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2013, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2013: 1 in 729,000; 5 of 3,645,938 births
Among boys only: 1 in 378,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2013: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 505,435 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Meade sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2013 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 505,435 children born in 2013 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Meade. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Meades were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Meade was born before 1938 — so the typical Meade is around 87 today.

Median birth year: 1938; About 87 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 23.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 7.4%; Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950: 169; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 23.3% of all recorded uses (120).

Is Meade rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1918 (20)
Years since peak: 107; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Shifting; 20.7% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,659; 1914

Spellings of Meade

Meade is not the most common spelling — Wade is, with 38.2% against Meade's 0.26%.

Wade38.2%76,498
Cade17.4%34,772
Merle15.3%30,666
Kade11.6%23,294
Slade3.0%6,094
Jade2.9%5,855
Mendel1.5%2,942
Deane1.4%2,758

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Meade is used

Across 1910–2025, Meade was most concentrated in Pennsylvania — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 295,876 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1Pennsylvania1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Meade has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Meade by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #1,659; 1914
Peak year: 1918; 20 that year
First recorded: 1913
Last recorded: 2013
All-time count: 515
Count in 2025: Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #9,986; 1982
Peak year: 1982; 6 that year
First recorded: 1982
Last recorded: 1982
All-time count: 6
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Meade

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Shade Mearl Swade Quade Mckade Blade Glade Ade Zade Sade Mead Spade Kincade Slade Reade Dade Mearle Meagan Jade Khade Mccade Suade Thade Demilade

Sibling names for Meade

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Winnifred Johnie Ray Lida Floy Garnet Verda Vesta

For a brother

Granville Valentine Ellsworth Orval Buster Sol Omer Ferdinand

Explore around Meade

Top names of 1918, Meade's peak year The 1910s in full Other names that peaked in 1914 Boys' names starting with M