What does the surname Reed mean?
+
Locative, the reeds; or red-haired nickname Reid/Reed overlap. Reeds marked bog land too wet for wheat but perfect for cattle splash.
Where does the Reed family come from?
+
The Reed family is rooted in North East and East of England, in England. Within that, the name was particularly concentrated in Northumberland, Tyneside, Wearside & County Durham and Tees Valley. The atlas page for the name records the historical territory it has held over the centuries.
Where did the Reed family historically hold territory?
+
At its greatest historical extent, the Reed name has been concentrated in Kent, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire & the Isle of Wight and Berkshire & Oxfordshire. The atlas page distinguishes the core territory of the name from this wider historical reach with hatched silhouettes on the map.
Is Reed a England surname?
+
Yes, Reed is a England surname. Its editorial home in this atlas is England, where the historical territory and family record of the name are concentrated.
How old is the Reed surname?
+
Reeds marked bog land too wet for wheat but perfect for cattle splash. European hereditary surnames crystallised broadly between the 12th and 14th centuries, and the Reed name took its modern form within that long settlement.
What is the Reed family known for?
+
The marsh edge, or ruddy jest. Reeds marked bog land too wet for wheat but perfect for cattle splash.
Who is the most famous Reed?
+
The best-known bearer of the Reed name is Sir Carol Reed (1906–1976), film director (The Third Man, Oliver!). Their life and connection to the family are profiled in full on the dedicated champion page.
What stories are told about the Reed family?
+
The Reed family is associated with Carol Reed and The Third Man. Each story has its own page on this site with the full account, the date, the location, and the other families involved.
What is the story of Carol Reed and The Third Man?
+
From the fifteenth of October 1948 to the eleventh of December 1948, on location in the four-power-occupied city of Vienna, Sir Carol Reed, forty-two years old, the London-born British film director of Odd Man Out (1947) and The Fallen Idol (1948), shot the eight-week principal-photography schedule of The Third Man, the Graham-Greene-screenplay (commissioned by Reed and the American producer David O. Selznick over a airline-cocktail-napkin in February 1948) about a American pulp-novelist Holly Martins arriving in postwar Vienna to take up a job offered by his old-school-friend Harry Lime and discovering that Lime is involved in a racketeering operation in stolen-and-diluted penicillin. The event is dated to 1949.
Where is the Reed surname found today?
+
England is the primary historical home of the Reed surname. In the modern era, the name is also borne across the wider diaspora, particularly in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where families carry the line of descent from the same England origin recorded on this page.
What does the Clan Rising page for the Reed family cover?
+
The Clan Rising page for the Reed family covers the meaning of the surname, the historical geography of the name, famous bearers of the name, traditional stories and the seat of the head of the family. Each section is linked to the underlying atlas of England so the name can be read in the geography that shaped it.
Who is the head of the Reed family today?
+
The seat for the head of the Reed family is currently vacant on this register. Clan Rising is rebuilding the chief and family structure for the modern era, and the family page allows readers to claim the seat or pledge to the name.