This interesting surname is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and has two possible sources. Firstly, the surname may be an example of the sizeable group of early European surnames that were gradually created from the habitual use of nicknames. The nicknames were given in the first instance with reference to a variety of characteristics, such as physical attributes or peculiarities, mental and moral characteristics, including supposed resemblance to an animal's or bird's appearance or disposition, or to habits of dress and occupation. The derivation of the name in this case is the Olde English pre 7th Century "sceadu", Middle English "shade", shadow, and would have been given as a nickname to a very thin man. In some instances the surname may be a topographical name for someone who lived near a boundary, deriving from the Olde English "scead", boundary (from "sceadan", to divide). Topographical names were some of the earliest created, as topographical features, whether natural or man-made, provided obvious and convenient means of identification. The surname is first recorded in the early 13th Century (see below), and can also be found as Schade. Hugo Scade is noted in the Curia Regis Rolls of Leicestershire 91221), Richard de la Schade is listed in the Pipe Rolls of Devonshire (1230), and Ralph Shade is recorded in the 1296 Subsidy Rolls of Sussex. The marriage of Ann Shade and Robert Almon took place at the church of St. Margaret's, Westminster, London, on April 22nd 1604. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Lucas Shadue, which was dated 1203, in the "Curia Regis Rolls of Cumberland", during the reign of King John, known as "Lackland", 1199 - 1216. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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