Need

This surname recorded in the spellings of Noad, Noads, Node, Need and Needs, is one of the most unusual of habitational surnames. Its origin is Olde English pre 7th Century, and the derivation is from the ancient word "ad" or "Yde" which usually describes a place where funeral pyres were lit! To this was added the prefix "atten" to give the phrase "atten-ad" or "atten yde", a description for somebody who lived by such a place. With use a surname was developed and the first of these recordings include Ricard ate Node of Hertfordshire in 1282, William atte Yde of Cambridge in 1279, and Adam atten Ode, of the Isle of Wight, in the year 1311. Later recordings taken from London church registers include Joana Neede, who married John Dyne at St Lukes, Chelsea, on January 22nd 1589, Elizabetha Need, christened at St Martins in the Field, Westminster, on November 29th 1674, and Thomas Noades, of London in 1694. Charles Noad and Ann Steward were married on November 22nd 1790, at St. Bride's, Fleet Street. The coat of arms associated with the name has the blazon of a black shield charged with a silver pile, and three black trefoils slipped. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Adam Node, which was dated 1297, in the rolls of the Duchy of Cornwall, during the reign of King Edward 1, known as "The Hammer of the Scots", 1272 - 1307. 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.