Find out how popular the last name Chad is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Chad.

Chad, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Chad surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Chad in America

Chad is the 58042nd most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Chad surname appeared 350 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Chad.

We can also compare 2010 data for Chad to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Chad

The surname Chad is of English origin and is believed to have derived from the Old English word "ċeadd," which means "a small round hill" or "a rounded summit." This name is thought to have originated as a topographic name, referring to people who lived near such a geographical feature.

The earliest recorded instance of the surname Chad can be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Chadde." This historic record suggests that the name was already established in some parts of England during the 11th century.

In the 13th century, records show the surname being spelled as "Chade" and "Chedd," indicating some variation in its spelling over time. The name was particularly prevalent in the counties of Shropshire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire, where many families bearing this surname were known to reside.

One notable historical figure with the surname Chad was Robert Chad, a 16th-century English clergyman and academic who served as the Provost of Oriel College, Oxford, from 1568 to 1570.

Another individual of note was John Chad, a 17th-century English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Ludlow in 1628 and later became the High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1638.

In the 18th century, the surname Chad was associated with Robert Chad, a prominent English architect who designed several notable buildings, including the Shrewsbury Quarry in Shropshire, which was completed in 1769.

Moving into the 19th century, we find William Winwood Chad, an English clergyman and headmaster who served as the Headmaster of Rugby School from 1838 to 1841.

Lastly, in the 20th century, one of the more well-known individuals with the surname Chad was Sir Walter Percy Wilkins Chad, a British diplomat and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of British Guiana (now Guyana) from 1925 to 1928.

Throughout its history, the surname Chad has maintained its roots in the English countryside, often associated with place names or locations that featured small hills or rounded summits, reflecting the original meaning of the word from which it derived.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Chad

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Chad.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Chad was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Chad has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Chad was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Chad, please contact us.

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