Woody Surname

22,059th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 24,652 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Northern Mariana Islands

Woody Surname User-submission:

The surnames of Wood and Woody both seem to be derived from the Ancient Anglo-Saxon two syllable word "wudu". The name and derivatives meant "the substance of trees"; i.e. wood, a forest and a tree. It was also often used as a modifier, as in wudu-ælfenne (wood-elves) and wudu-æppel (wood-apple).

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Woody Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States23,8001:15,2291,927
Egypt2751:334,31221,412
Iran1231:624,24834,230
Canada881:418,70036,754
Russia671:2,151,090130,958
England501:1,114,36153,243
Israel231:372,07130,321
China201:68,366,0783,721
Latvia181:113,89116,101
Australia131:2,076,59293,242
India121:63,922,115578,870
Germany121:6,708,788223,026
Papua New Guinea111:741,24783,447
Panama91:434,6958,518
Thailand71:10,091,192512,203
Belarus71:1,357,29483,128
Mexico61:20,687,70153,861
Brazil61:35,679,055486,536
Northern Mariana Islands61:9,097939
France51:13,284,544357,392
Sweden51:1,969,351134,077
Taiwan51:4,688,94927,695
Ghana41:6,755,17315,406
Poland41:9,502,187181,606
Philippines41:25,309,556279,062
Dominican Republic41:2,608,23320,941
Iraq41:8,755,41423,373
Malaysia41:7,373,556230,001
Moldova31:1,187,12348,973
United States Virgin Islands31:36,7924,502
Kyrgyzstan21:2,986,32784,533
South Africa21:27,088,852277,613
Spain21:23,376,018128,922
Kazakhstan21:8,841,248174,813
Japan21:63,922,14662,827
Czechia21:5,316,734169,646
Ivory Coast21:11,535,61661,806
Italy21:30,578,344160,757
Bulgaria21:3,489,45264,958
Hong Kong21:3,667,74211,574
Indonesia21:66,124,597756,638
Cambodia11:15,487,14614,824
Ecuador11:15,905,84650,210
South Korea11:51,240,2568,015
Colombia11:47,774,07244,230
Syria11:19,301,02222,457
Cayman Islands11:63,8932,384
Cameroon11:20,769,068227,406
Trinidad and Tobago11:1,363,97522,013
Romania11:20,077,87089,414
Vietnam11:92,646,0548,382
Zimbabwe11:15,438,240133,260
Belgium11:11,496,644167,539
Barbados11:287,4482,772
Bangladesh11:159,356,77326,077
Afghanistan11:32,153,18360,828
Norway11:5,142,286129,201
Ireland11:4,708,93929,543
Jordan11:8,842,43726,010
Macau11:601,6301,582
Maldives11:404,1727,269
Morocco11:34,476,099111,471
Myanmar11:51,937,9852,166
Netherlands11:16,887,176156,465
New Zealand11:4,528,32355,372
Solomon Islands11:580,02922,243
Pakistan11:178,643,885213,220
Hungary11:9,816,27773,288
Haiti11:10,683,90724,607
Greece11:11,079,790145,225
Portugal11:10,418,24125,048
Georgia11:3,745,54547,852
Singapore11:5,507,70347,049
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland61:738,31121,113
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England711:343,31522,014
Wales41:392,10412,338
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States2,8431:17,6642,253

Woody (19,651) may also be a first name.

Woody Surname Meaning

User-submitted Reference

The surnames of Wood and Woody both seem to be derived from the Ancient Anglo-Saxon two syllable word "wudu". The name and derivatives meant "the substance of trees"; i.e. wood, a forest and a tree. It was also often used as a modifier, as in wudu-ælfenne (wood-elves) and wudu-æppel (wood-apple). Toward the end of the fourteenth century, wudu gradually became wode, but retained the two syllable pronunciation. In his poetry, Geoffrey Chaucer made use of the rhyming potential of the two syllable word, but after his death in 1400, wode largely became a one syllable word. Wode then became Woode and the "e" was eventually dropped by many people. Since most early surnames were based on the bearer's occupation, residence or perhaps even demeanor (wudu also meant wild and crazy), wood is a part many names (i.e. Greenwood, Attwood, Woodnut, etc.); however, some of those people with the surname derived from the original wudu chose to retain the two syllable pronunciation. By the 16th century, Woodye seemed to be a more common variation. So, although the spelling has changed, the pronunciation of Woody, Woodie, Wooddy, Woodey etc. has remained unchanged since the time of Chaucer.

The above explanation seems to be to be very logical and plausible to us; however, the yDNA results of the Wood DNA Project and the Woody DNA Project do not support this theory.

- geneped

Woody Last Name Facts

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

The surname Woody (Arabic: ودى) is more frequently found in The United States than any other country or territory. It may be found in the variant forms:. Click here to see other potential spellings of this name.

How Common Is The Last Name Woody? popularity and diffusion

This surname is the 22,059th most frequent last name on earth. It is borne by around 1 in 295,617 people. It occurs predominantly in The Americas, where 80 percent of Woody reside; 80 percent reside in North America and 80 percent reside in Anglo-North America. It is also the 38,323rd most frequent first name throughout the world, held by 19,651 people.

The last name Woody is most common in The United States, where it is borne by 23,800 people, or 1 in 15,229. In The United States it is most common in: North Carolina, where 11 percent live, Texas, where 8 percent live and Tennessee, where 7 percent live. Excluding The United States it is found in 72 countries. It also occurs in Egypt, where 1 percent live and Iran, where 0 percent live.

Woody Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The occurrence of Woody has changed over time. In The United States the number of people who held the Woody last name grew 837 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it declined 30 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it declined 83 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Woody Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those carrying the surname is primarily Catholic (75%) in Ireland.

In The United States Woody are 20.21% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than The US average, with 66.98% registered to vote for the party.

The amount Woody earn in different countries varies somewhat. In United States they earn 8.35% less than the national average, earning $39,547 USD per year and in Canada they earn 4.25% more than the national average, earning $51,796 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Woodey91309/
Wooddy91193/
Woojdy9148/
Wooday919/
Woodiy910/
Wody8925/
Woodhey833/
Woodduy830/
Woodhay830/
Woodiey830/
Wooddey830/
Woodytt830/
Woode8012,206/
Boody807,995/
Wodey80195/
Woidy8050/
Woday8040/
Woodi8025/
Woedy8021/
Wooda8017/
Woddy8017/
Wodoy8016/
Voody8010/
Woudy803/
Hwody801/
Wuody801/
Woodj800/
Woodie732,100/
Boodey7374/
Woodhi7317/
Woodit7314/
Woodha736/
Wouday736/
Woodee734/
Vooday734/
Woodai731/
Booday731/
Woodii731/
Wojdys731/
Wohday731/
Woodid731/
Woodhe731/
Wodday731/
Boodiy731/
Woodiz730/
Woodda730/
Bootdy730/
Voodey730/
Woodde730/
Woddey730/
Body6711,442/
Wady675,091/
Wode674,641/
Wodi674,116/
Woda673,781/
Wudy67614/
Vody67192/
Woodedd6718/
Wůdy6711/
Woodest676/
Boothdy673/
Wodhaya672/
Boodhay672/
Woodaid672/
Wodj671/
Woodiss671/
Woodess671/
Woodhed671/
Wojdyoa671/
Woodish671/
Wouduyh671/
Uody671/
Wooddie670/
Woodeth670/
Wooddis670/

Woody Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Woody in the Arabic language
ودىwdy-
وديwdy-
ووديwwdy-

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Woody Reference & Research

Woody One-name Study - A profile of the Woody surname with contact details for a researcher who collects any information pertaining to it.

Woodley DNA Website - A web page dedicated to the genetic research of those who bear the surname and its variants.

Woody DNA Website - A web page dedicated to the genetic research of those who bear the surname and its variants.

Woodley FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

Woody FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

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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 Woody
  • 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