''Wood'' is a surname in the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

. It is common throughout the world, especially countries with historical links to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

Etymology

For the most part, the surname Wood originated as a topographic name used to describe a person who lived in, or worked in a wood or

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. This name is derived from the

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

''wode'', from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''wudu'' meaning "wood" (from the

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic bran ...

word ''widu''). which cited: for the surname "Wood". An early occurrence of this surname (of a personal residing near a wood) is ''de la Wode'', recorded in Hertfordshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, in 1242. The locational name also appeared in early records Latinised as ''de Bosco'' (from the

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...

''bois'', meaning "wood"). which cited: for the surname "Boyce". Another derivation for the surname is from a nickname of an eccentric or violent person, derived from the Old English ''wōd'', ''wad'', and Middle English ''wod'', ''wode'', all meaning "frenzied" or "wild". This derivation is considered to be much less common than the locational origin. An early occurrence of the surname derived in this fashion (from a nickname) is ''le Wode'', recorded in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

, England, in 1221.

Variations

Variations of the name include the surnames ''Woodd'', ''Woode'', '' Woods'', ''Wod'', and ''Wode''. The equivalent name in German is ''Wald'', and in many cases, emigrants from the German-speaking countries Anglicized this name to Wood when they settled in countries like the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, Australia,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, et cetera. The name "Wald" still exists, too. The element "wood" occurs in a number of surnames often indicating a place of origin or an occupation: Woodard, Woodburn, Woodby,

Woodcock The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of wading birds in the genus ''Scolopax''. The genus name is Latin for a snipe or woodcock, and until around 1800 was used to refer to a variety of waders. The English name ...

, Woodforde, Woodham, Woodly, Woodman, Woodruff, Woodstock, Woodvine, Woodward, and Woodworth. Other variations include; Blackwood,

Eastwood Eastwood may refer to: Places ;in Australia *Eastwood, New South Wales **Eastwood railway station **Electoral district of Eastwood *Eastwood, South Australia ;in Canada * Eastwood, Ontario *Eastwood, Edmonton, Alberta, a neighborhood ;in the Ph ...

, Greenwood, Inglewood, Hazelwood, Kirkwood, Leatherwood, Northwood, Redwood, Underwood, Westwood.

Popularity

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, Wood is the 26th most-common surname, in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

it is the 53rd most-common surname and in the

the 78th.(cites its source as the U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, Population Analysis & Evaluation Staff)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wood (Surname) English-language surnames Surnames of English origin English toponymic surnames es:Wood#Personajes fr:Wood