Wade is a surname. The English surname Wade has two derivations: a Middle English given name "Wade", itself derived from the Anglo-Saxon name "Wada"; the second derivation is from the word or place-name "wade", meaning a ford (Wade being applied either to one who lived near a ford, or in a settlement called Wade, e.g. Wade, Suffolk).
Variants of this surname include Waide and Wadey, the latter a diminutive variant. There is also a documented relationship between Wade and Waythe, the latter derived by a variant form of "wade" meaning a ford, that being "wath"; there is likewise a relationship between Wade/Waythe and Ford/Forth.
Notable people with the surname include:
Abdoulaye Wade (born 1926), President of Senegal
Ainley Wade, pharmaceutical historian and former editor of Martindale: The Extra Pharmacopoeia
April Wade, American actress and producer
Benjamin Wade (1800–1878), American lawyer and United States Senator from Ohio
Bernie L. Wade (born 1963), American minister, President of the International Circle of Faith
Bill Wade (born 1930), former American footballer
Bobby Wade (born 1981), American footballer
Charles Wade (1863–1922), Premier of New South Wales (1907–10)
Chris Wade (real estate broker), real estate broker involved in the American Whitewater scandal
Christopher Wade, English martyr
Cory Wade (born 1983), American Major League Baseball player
David Wade (general) (1911–1990), American lieutenant general
David Wade (politician) (born 1950), Australian former politician
Donald Wade, Baron Wade (1904–1988), British Liberal Party politician
Doug Wade (born 1941), former Australian rules footballer
Dwyane Wade (born 1982), American basketball player
Ed Wade (born 1956), general manager of the Major League Baseball Houston Astros
George Wade (1673–1748), British military commander
Henry Wade (1914–2001), Texas lawyer and lead defendant in Roe v. Wade
Henry William Rawson Wade (commonly known as William Wade; 1918–2004), British legal academic
Henry Wade, pen name of British mystery writer Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, 6th Baronet (1887-1969)
Ian Wade (born 1975), Bristol photographer
James Wade (born 1983), English darts player
Jason Wade (born 1980), singer/songwriter
Jeremy Wade (born 1956), British TV presenter (River Monsters) and fishing author
John Francis Wade (1711–1786), English composer
Joseph Augustine Wade (1796–1845), Irish composer
Mark Wade (born 1965), American retired basketball player
Mark Sweeten Wade (1859–1929), Canadian medical doctor and historian
Martin Joseph Wade (1861–1931), U.S. Democratic Representative from Iowa
Mary Wade (1777–1859), the youngest convict transported to Australia aboard the Lady Juliana
Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade (1860–1936), American writer
Mary Virginia "Ginnie" Wade (1843-1863), the only civilian casualty in the Battle of Gettysburg
Mary Wade (paleontologist) (1928–2005), Australian paleontologist
Matthew Wade (born 1987), Australian cricketer
Michael Wade, deceased Canadian actor
Nicholas Wade (born 1942 in England), US science writer and author
Logan Wade (born 1991), Australian baseball player
Paul Wade (born 1962), retired Australian footballer
Rebekah Wade, afterwards Rebekah Brooks, English journalist
Robert Wade (disambiguation), several
Rosalind Wade (1909–1989), British novelist
Scott Wade (born 1960), former Australian rules footballer
Thomas M. Wade (1860-1929), American politician and educator
Thomas Wade (writer) (1805–1875), English poet and dramatist
Thomas Francis Wade (1818–1895), British diplomat and sinologist
Thomas James Wade (1893-1969), American Roman Catholic bishop
Virginia Wade (born 1945), tennis player from the United Kingdom
Wallace Wade (1892–1986), American college sports coach
Wayne Wade (born 1959), Jamaican reggae musician
William H. Wade (born 1835), American politician
