This surname is derived from a nickname. 'the moody,' i.e. the brave, the bold, the resolute. A common sobriquet in the Hundred Rolls. Mudie is a Scottish form. Moody also frequently hails from over the Border.

'Aslaked was his mood,' i.e. anger.: Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales.

Mody, Mwdy, adj. - proud, brave; Moodie, Mudie - gallant, courageous — from Jamieson.

Adam Mody, Oxfordshire, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Roger Mody, Salop, ibid.

Simon Modi, Cambridgeshire, ibid.

Johannes Mody, husband, 1379: Poll Tax of Howdenshire.

Thomas Mody and Sibota uxor ejus, 1370: Poll Tax of York.

Thomas Mody and Agnes uxor ejus: 1379: ibid.

1544. Married — Henry Mody and Anne Laurence: Marriage Lic. (Canterbury).

1605. — Henry Modye and Deborah Dunche: St. Mary Aldermary.

1621. Thomas Moody and Margaret Scrivenor: Marriage Lic. (London).

Woulfe informs us that Irish speakers call Moody Ó Muadaigh in that language. He does not mention that Moody is a well-known English name (derived from the Old-English modig, meaning impetuous, brave). In Ireland it is found mainly in Ulster. I think we must reject the idea that it may also be a Gaelic name, although I have actually met one instance of O'Mody in an Oriel document of 1428 contained in Archbishop's Swayne's Register. Mody without a prefix is quite commonly found in Irish records as far back as 1297 and following years (in Co. Kildare) and throughout the mediaeval period in (Co. Kilkenny and elsewhere); after 1600 it has become Moody (or occasionally Mudy as in the Antrim hearth money rolls). Some families of the name settled in Ireland at a more recent date.

They have never been closely or at all exclusively associated with any particular place or county; the name occurs often in Co. Armagh from 1639 and in Co. Cork from 1637 and the voters' lists indicate that there are now a number of Moody families in Co. Offaly as well as in the north-eastern counties of Ulster.

Probably the best known man of the name was Cork-born John Moody (c. 1727-1812) the noted actor: he was, however, not a Moody by blood, his real name being Cochrane.

(English) Spirited, Brave, Proud; later, Morose, Gloomy [Middle English mody, Old English módig] See Mody.

An English name found quite frequently as Mody in Irish records as far back as 1297. Since 1600 it has been found mainly in Ulster and also in Offaly. It has been gaelicized as Ó Muadaigh. SIF 115

(English) The old, impetuous, brave man.

A name given from the disposition. Meudwy, Welsh, an anchorite, a recluse, hermit, a monk.

From the German, Mude; from the Danish, Muthe; a personal name.

Moody is an ancient name that was represented in the reign of Edward I. by Mody and Mudy in Norfolk, and by Mody and Modi in Oxfordshire and Wilts (H. R.). Probably the Suffolk and Yorkshire name of Mudd or Mudde is another form of this name. Moody is a name that has also a home in the south and west of England in Hampshire and Somerset. William Moody possessed 29 acres in Partney, Lincolnshire, in 1616; and there was a John Moody, Esq., of Scremby, in this county, about 1750 (O.).

The name of Moody was represented by Mody or Modi in the neighbouring county of Wiltshire 600 years ago (H. R.).