Woodwards Surname

755,622nd
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 379 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
Wales

Woodwards Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from an official title. 'the woodward,' a forest officer who looked after wood and vert. 'Wodewarde, or walkare in 'John Keeper, or Woodward, of Buckholt-wood,' 31 Henry VIII: Rudder's Gloucestershire.

Roger le Wodeward, Henry III-Edward I.

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Woodwards Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England3201:174,11915,890
Wales181:171,91811,581
United States151:24,163,929685,360
Austria71:1,216,49180,919
Canada71:5,263,656239,735
Australia51:5,399,140162,351
Scotland51:1,070,76331,189
Northern Ireland11:1,845,03620,648
Thailand11:70,638,3451,175,915
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England2541:95,9669,815
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States151:3,347,912150,340

Woodwards Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from an official title. 'the woodward,' a forest officer who looked after wood and vert. 'Wodewarde, or walkare in 'John Keeper, or Woodward, of Buckholt-wood,' 31 Henry VIII: Rudder's Gloucestershire.

Roger le Wodeward, Henry III-Edward I. I.

Aylward le Wodeward, Essex, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Adam le Wodeward, Oxfordshire, ibid.

William le Wodewarde, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Richard le Wodeward, Sussex, 20 Edward I: Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III.

Johannes Woddeword, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

Modern instances are needless.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

The officer whose duty it was to guard the woods and verts therein (ME. wode ward(e, Old English wuduweard).

The Surnames of Scotland (1946) by George Fraser Black (1866-1948)

(the) Woodward’s (Son).

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(From wood and ward, custos: see Ward.) "An officer of the forest, whose charge is to look after the woods and vert there; his very name denotes his office; he must present all offences within his charge at the court of attachments, or swain-mote, to the chief foresters or verderers; and if he see or know any malefactors, or if he shall find any deer killed or hurt, he must acquaint a verderer thereof, and present the same at the next court of the forest. And by the law he must not walk with bow and arrows, but with a forest-bill or hatchet." Manwode, quoted in Nelson's Laws of Game. It is added that "the Woodward ought to appear at every justice-seat, and when he is called, he must present his hatchet to the Lord chief-justice in Eyre." Le Wodeward. H.R.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

Wood—ward, a forest—keeper or officer, who walked with a forest—bill, and took cognizance of all offenses committed.

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857) by William Arthur

Woodward. —This ancient name is mostly confined to the midlands, being best represented in Worcestershire, Derbyshire, and also, but to a less extent, in most of the counties adjacent to them. It is absent or rare in southern England, south of a line joining the mouths of the Thames and the Severn; and it is similarly infrequent or not permanently established in northern England, north of Yorkshire. The Woodwards, or "forest - keepers," the Wodewards of the Hundred Rolls, were, in the reign of Edward I., numerous in Essex and Oxfordshire, where the surname still remains, and they were also at that time represented in Bucks.

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain (1890) by Henry Brougham Guppy

Woodwards Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Woodwards Come From? nationality or country of origin

Woodwards is carried by more people in England than any other country or territory. It can appear in the variant forms:. Click here to see other possible spellings of Woodwards.

How Common Is The Last Name Woodwards? popularity and diffusion

It is the 755,622nd most common surname on a worldwide basis It is held by approximately 1 in 19,228,353 people. The surname Woodwards occurs mostly in Europe, where 93 percent of Woodwards live; 91 percent live in Northern Europe and 91 percent live in British Isles.

Woodwards is most common in England, where it is carried by 320 people, or 1 in 174,119. In England it is mostly found in: Oxfordshire, where 14 percent are found, Essex, where 11 percent are found and Hertfordshire, where 9 percent are found. Besides England this surname exists in 8 countries. It is also common in Wales, where 5 percent are found and The United States, where 4 percent are found.

Woodwards Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of Woodwards has changed over time. In England the number of people who held the Woodwards surname increased 126 percent between 1881 and 2014.

Woodwards Last Name Statistics demography

Woodwards earn a lot less than the average income. In United States they earn 44.63% less than the national average, earning $23,891 USD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Woodwaurds950/
Woodards94496/
Woodardes891/
Wodards880/
Wedwards823/
Woodward-Haas822/
Woddards821/
Wootards821/
Wadwards820/
Woodwarz820/
Wooderts718/
Woodwrights702/
Wotortsi59498/
Wodortso591/
Widartayasa504/
Wederts500/

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Woodwards
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis