ADAMS Surname Meaning, Origin and Family History

From the Hebrew personal name Adam which was borne, according to Genesis, by the first man, the Adams surname is of uncertain etymology. Possibly from the Hebrew word adama meaning earth,  connecting to the Greek legend that Zeus fashioned the first human beings from earth. The s ending generally indicates a patronymic surname, meaning son of Adam. Adams is the 39th most popular surname in the United States and the 69th most common surname in England. Surname Origin:  English, Hebrew Alternate Surname Spellings:  ADAM, ADDAMS, MCADAMS, ADAMSON (Scottish), ADIE (Scottish), ADAMI (Italian), ADAMINI (Italian), ADCOCKS (English)   Famous People with the Surname ADAMS John Adams - 2nd President of the United StatesJohn Quincy Adams - 6th President of the United StatesMichael Adams - U.S. astronaut; X-15 pilotYolanda Adams - urban Gospel artistDouglas Adams - English author, best known for The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Where is the ADAMS Surname Most Common? According to surname distribution data from Forebears, Adams is the 506th most common surname in the world. It is most common in the United States, where it ranks 35th, as well as in South Africa (43rd), Ghana (44th), England (57th), Wales (61st), Australia (67th), New Zealand (85th), Canada (90th) and Scotland (104th). On Norfolk Island, the Adams surname is born by 1 in every 64 people. It is also found in great density in the tiny South American country of Guyana, where 1 in 267 people have the Adams last name. Within the United Kingdom, the Adams surname is most common in Southeast England and Northern Ireland according to WorldNames PublicProfiler.   Genealogy Resources for the Surname ADAMS 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? Massachusetts Historical Society: The Adams Family PapersGenealogies, images of manuscripts and digital transcriptions from the Adams Family Papers, one of the most important collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. ADAMS Surname Y-DNA ProjectThe Adams Surname DNA Project and this web site have been founded as a place for Adams researchers to use the Y-DNA testing, now available to answer some questions about our ancestry. This is open to any person related to the surnames Adams, Adam or other possible variations. Adams  Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as an Adams  family crest or coat of arms for the Adams surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male-line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted. Adams Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Adams surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Adams  query. There is also a separate forum for the ADAM variation of the Adams surname. FamilySearch - ADAMS  GenealogyExplore over 8.8  million  historical records which mention individuals with the Adams surname, as well as online Adams family trees on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. DistantCousin.com - ADAMS Genealogy Family HistoryFree databases and genealogy links for the last name Adams. GeneaNet - Adams  RecordsGeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Adams  surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries. The Adams  Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse family trees and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the last name Adams  from the website of Genealogy Today. Sources Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998.Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003.Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997.Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.