It is not known when a name was first used as a family name and passed from a parent to the children (often from father to son), but instances of the practice are found in Europe approximately 1000 A.D. The family name or surname was often a modification of the father's name, or the name of a landmark or geographical location, an occupation or defining event, the name of a physical object or phenomenon of nature, etc.
The earliest known use of the Cloude/Cloud surname is in medieval England, where it is also recorded as de la Cloude, Clowd and Clowde. The surname may have come from a place name or a geographical feature.
The name is found in Native American families, Chief Red Cloud being an example, but the name was not passed on to his children. (Early Native Americans (indigenous peoples of America) did not use the naming convention of the Europeans, choosing instead to name their children after places, animals, events, religious symbols, etc.)
(Listed in alphabetical order.)
Cloud, Cloude, Clowd, Clowde, de la Cloude.
(References found indicate these names are related to or are the same family(s).)
Cloudsleigh, Cloudesleigh, Cloudsley, Cloudesley
(Errors in transcription or personal preference are some of the reasons surnames change over time. The surnames below have similar spelling, sound similar or reflect regional spellings and pronunciations and could be variants of the Cloud/Cloude surname.)
Calloud, Caloud, Calud, Chlud, Chludn, Claud, Cleod, Clewed, Cllud, Cloda, Cloedt, Cloet, Clood, Cloode, Cloodt, Clou, Clouad, Clouda, Cloudan, Cloudas, Cloudax, Cloudd, Clouded, Clouden, Clouder, Cloudes, Cloudet, Cloudey, Cloudia, Cloudie, Cloudis, Cloudly, Clouds, Cloudsy, Cloudt, Cloudus, Cloudy, Cloue, Clous, Clout, Cloute, Cloutt, Cloutte, Cloux, Clowdas, Clowdes, Clowdis, Clowdos, Clowds, Clowdus, Cloyd, Clud, Cluda, Cludas, Cludd, Cludde, Clude, Cludia, Cludie, Cludy, Cluids, Clut, Clutton, Colourde, Kloede, Klouda, Kloudos, Kloudt, Klude, Klut, Klutton, MacCloud, McCleod, McCloud, McLeod
Some of the places Cloud surnamed families are known to have lived:
Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, South Africa, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States.
(arranged chronologically by birth date)
Simon de la Cloude, Isolda his wife, William de la Cloude - earliest known (to this author) records of Cloudes, 13th century documents and later.
Joseph Cloud (1770–1845), head of the melting and refining dept. of the US Mint, at Philadelphia from Jan 1798 until Jan 14 1836.
David C. Cloud (1817–1903), first attorney general for the state of Iowa, U.S.A.
Chief Red Cloud (1822–1909), head Chief of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) from 1868 to 1909.
Col. William F. Cloud (1825–1905). Cloud County, Kansas was named for him.
Henry Roe Cloud (1884–1950), Winnebago Indian, educator, college administrator, government official, Presbyterian minister, and reformer.
Roger Cloud (1909–1988), Ohio state legislator (R) and auditor 1965-1966, Ohio Republican candidate for governor 1970.
Dr. Preston E. Cloud, PhD (1912–1991), member National Academy of Sciences, paleontologist, geographer and educator.
Jack Martin "Flying Jack" Cloud (1925–2010), All-American football player at William & Mary, running back for the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins, inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame (1990), received the Jim and Rae Morgan Award for his service to the Touchdown Club of Annapolis, MD (2006), Cherokee Indian.
Jeff Cloud (politician) (born 1961), American politician from Oklahoma
Chris Cloud (born 1988), Canadian professional ice hockey player
Aaron G. Cloud House, McLeansboro, Hamilton County, Illinois, U.S.A.
Abner Cloud House, (park), Washington, D.C., U.S.A. 1802, on the Patowmack Canal built by George Washington, is the oldest home on the canal.
Abner Cloud House, 14 Ravine Rd., Brandywine Hundred, Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A., aka Sawmill Farm; Mansion Farm.
Bill Cloud Lake Dam, Pearl River, Mississippi, U.S.A.
Chief Hazy Cloud County Park, Kent, Michigan, U.S.A.
Chief White Cloud State Monument, Becker, Minnesota, U.S.A.
Cloud county, Kansas, U.S.A. named for Col. William Fletcher Cloud
Cloud's Town was so named in 1829 by its founder William Cloud. It is now known as New Hope, Madison County, Alabama, U.S.A.
Clouds House, Wiltshire, England, built for Percy and Madeline Caroline Frances Eden (Campbell) Wyndham. (It's located where the 16th century Cloudes lived -- Wiltshire -- and is included for that reason.)
Cloud-Reese House, 2202 Old Kennett Rd., Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.
Cloud-Stark House, 327 S. Dixon St., Gainesville, Texas, U.S.A.
Flurnoy Cloud Cemetery, Carroll County, Virginia, U.S.A. (364014N, 0803436W), 1.5 miles NE of the James Cloud Cemetery.
James Cloud Cemetery, Carroll county, Virginia, U.S.A. (364102N, 0803321W), 1.5 miles SW of the Flurnoy Cloud Cemetery.
Roe Cloud Hall, Haskell Indian Nations University, Douglas, Kansas, U.S.A.
Roy Cloud School, San Mateo, California, U.S.A.
Temple Cloud is a village within the Chew Valley in Somerset in the Bath and North East Somerset Council area. It is located 10 miles from Bristol and Bath, very close to Clutton. Cloud is thought to come from the personal name Cloda.
Thomas A. Cloud Memorial Park, Dayton, Ohio, U.S.A. (394924N, 0840738W)
W.W. Cloud Lake, Pearl River, Mississippi, U.S.A. (304831N, 0892036W)
