Recorded as Sneath, Snaith, Snead, Sneed, and Sneyd, this is an English surname. It is either a locational name from a place called Snaith in Humberside near from a place called Snaith in Humberside near Gook, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which is recorded as Sneid in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire (1169), Snead Farm in Rock, Worestershire, Snoad's Hole in Linton, Snoad Farm in Otterden and Snoadhill in Betterden (Kent), or, a topographical name for a "dweller by a clearing or piece of woodland", all deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century "snoed, snad" meaning "piece of land", clearing, a piece of Woodland. The surname dates back to the early 13th Century, (see below). Further recordings include Robert atte Snede (1327) "The Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire". Church recordings include one Ales Snead who married Ryc Wilkinson on August 11th 1577, at St. Stephen's Coleman Street, London, Elizabeth Sneade married James Ince on April 13th 1589, at St. Peter le Poer, London, and Jane, daughter of George and Elizabeth Snead, was christened on December 3rd 1620, at St. Andrew's, Holborn, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Ailnoth de Snode, which was dated 1214, The Curia Regis Rolls of Kent, 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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