WEATHERHEAD
Weatherhead is a surname of English origin, derived from the Old English words weder meaning “weather” and heafod meaning “head”. The name is believed to have been originally a nickname for a person who possessed knowledge of the weather or who had a notable interest in meteorology, or for one who bore a distinctive feature on the head that resembled a weather phenomenon.
Other plausible origins are occupational and topographical, both rooted in Old English. In the occupational sense the surname may come from a phrase such as wether hierde, where wether refers to a castrated ram and hierde is a shepherd; thus the name could have been applied to a shepherd or a trader of sheep. In a topographical context the surname might denote a person residing near the “head” of a weather‑bearing hill or headland, an area from which weather typically approached.
Historical records show a wide range of spellings, the earliest of which dates to the year 1200 when Thomas Wethyrhyrde is recorded at Necraneston in Scotland during the reign of King William the Lion. Subsequent entries include Augustin Wetherherde in the 1214 Feet of Fines of Kent, Henry Weydurherd in the 1476 Derbyshire Charters, George Weddirheid in Edinburgh in 1532, Thomas Weatherheade in a 1634 Lancashire will, Anne Wethered christening in 1623 at St. Mildred Poultry in London, and Abraham Weathehead’s 1650 christening at St. Margarets, Westminster. These examples illustrate the evolution of the surname over eight centuries.
In the United Kingdom the surname is most common in northern counties such as Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Lancashire, with a notable historical presence in Lowestoft in Suffolk. A surname survey carried out by the General Register Office in 1881 recorded 0.62 % of the population in former Yorkshire bearing the name, and 0.36 % in Lowestoft. In the United States the name is predominantly found in the Midwest, the Mid‑Atlantic and New England states, reflecting the migration of families from Britain during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Variants of the name include Witcherhead, Watcherhead, Whitcherhead and Whetherhead, all derived from Old English waeder “weather” and haed “head”. Other surnames sometimes regarded as related, though not necessarily the same lineage, are Wetherell, Wetherelt, Weatherburn, Weatherdon, Weatherston and Weatherill. While Wetherell is thought to come from waeder “weather” and heall “hall”, Wetherelt bears a Norse origin in vethr “weather” and hildi “battle”. These variations reflect the long use and linguistic diversity of the surname across England, Scotland and beyond.
Throughout its history the surname Weatherhead has remained a descriptive marker of occupation, geography or physical trait, passed down through successive generations of families in Britain and the United States. Its endurance attests to the richness of the linguistic and social traditions that shape surnames.
Typical given names associated with the Weatherhead surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- Ian
- James
- John
- Mark
- Martin
- Michael
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
Female
- Christine
- Claire
- Dorothy
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Lisa
- Louise
- Margaret
- Marissa
- Mary
- Nicola
- Pamela
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Weatherhead in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 1,032 people named Weatherhead in the UK. That makes it roughly the 7,187th most common surname in Britain. Around 16 in a million people in Britain are named Weatherhead.
Famous people named Weatherhead
- Shaun Weatherhead - Football player
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.