Does anyone know of any middle or old english origins of the surname Speed?

Question:

Does anyone know of any middle or old english origins of the surname Speed?

I have found the meaning of the name in Old English, I have found John Speed the historian and cartographer, I have found the Blessed John Speed, English martyr. But I can find nothing farther back than these two. Where is it from? Is it a common name, like Smith, Fletcher, Johnson, etc., or does it have any historical meaning, like Scottish or Irish clan surnames? I read (a year or two ago) that it originally comes from a Saxon family in northern England, around the time Beowulf was translated into Old English. I would like someone smarter than me to either corroborate or disprove this small ammount of information.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Speed

English: nickname for a fortunate person, from Middle English sped ??success??, ??good fortune??, ??smooth progress?? (hence the modern meaning ??swiftness??).

English: from the derived sense of Middle English sped mentioned above, hence a nickname for a swift runner.

Irish: Anglicization (part translation) of Gaelic 㓠Fuada, from fuad ??haste?? (see Foody).

Translation of German and Ashkenazic Jewish Schnell.

Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4

Unless that Saxon family was the only one in the kingdom with a fast boy in their brood, you have been fed a line of baloney.

It IS rare;
http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/name...
says it is 4,015th in popularity in the USA. Smith is 1st, Johnson 2nd, Pack 1,674th or so. I imagine it is more popular in England, where the bulk of the surnames are English.