Surname Collenwood - Meaning and Origin
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Collenwood: What does the surname Collenwood mean?
The last name Collenwood is of English origin. It is believed to be derived from two distinct geographical locations, meaning “valley in a wood” and “wood near a hollow.”
The name has Germanic roots and combines two words ' Cole' meaning a ‘valley’, and 'wood' meaning ‘wood’. It is believed that the name was first used as a topographical surname to describe someone who lived near a valley in the woods.
The surname can also be derived from a place found in the county of Northumberland in England, called Colenwood. The origin of the name is unknown, but it is thought that it may be derived from an Old English personal name, which itself was derived from the personal name Colan.
The Collenwood surname is found in the records of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, with its earliest recorded use being as a given name in the 11th century. The Collenwood name is also found in its variant forms of Collen, Collon, and Collens.
Over the many centuries, Collenwood has been a popular surname around the British Isles, and has made its way around the world, as the name has become more widely spread with migration.
The Collenwood family name is one with an interesting origins story and is centuries old. As a proud bearer of this surname, the family line can trace its roots back to the English countryside, and look back at the history and story of the Collenwood name with pride.
Order DNA origin analysisCollenwood: Where does the name Collenwood come from?
The last name Collenwood is not particularly common anywhere in the world today. It is, however, mainly associated with England and Scotland as the surname is an Anglicized version of the Scots Gaelic name "MacCollenwood". It is thought to originate from the Scottish island of Coll and the Scots Gaelic term "dubh" meaning "dark". In England, the last name is mainly found in the counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire, with some families having emigrated to the United States and Canada, as well as Australia.
In some cases, the name "Collenwood" was adopted when families moved locations and took on a new last name associated with their new home. One example is the English family who moved to Scotland and who had their surname changed to "Collenwood". Other occasions involve changes due to marriage or other reasons, with people taking on the last name of a close family member, such as a spouse.
Despite these possible circumstances, a survey of records from any given area does not record a large number of people with the last name Collenwood. Therefore, it is an uncommon family name.
Variations of the surname Collenwood
Collenwood is a surname with a few variants, spellings, and related family names. The most common variation is Collenwood, which can also be spelled as Collenwod, Collenwodde, Collenwoode, Colenwood, Collenwoood, and Collenwude. Other related family names that are derived from Collenwood are Collowood, Collywood, Callanwood, Collyne, Collen, Colen, Collinwood, and Collons.
The origin of the Collenwood surname is unknown, but a few theories are suggested by historians. It could have Anglo-Saxon origins from Collen, which was an old English personal name, or from the Welsh word “collen” meaning hazel, or from various places called Collen in Southern Wales, or from an Old English descriptive name for someone with a foreign appearance.
Other theories suggest that Collenwood could be a corruption of the Scottish surname of Colquhoun, or that it could be a Dutch adopted version of English surname Coleman. The Dutch typically replace the letter "m" with a "w" in foreign words, so Coleman could have become Collenwood or Collowood.
It is impossible to pin down the exact origin of the surname with certainty due to the limited records available. However, it is clear that the Collenwood surname evolved from various different sources and is connected with other related family names, such as Collowood, Collywood, Callanwood, Collyne, Collen, Colen, Collinwood, and Collons.
Famous people with the name Collenwood
- Julia Collenwood: an Australian actress known for her work on the show The Code (2014).
- George Collenwood: a British actor best known for his roles in films like A Fish Called Wanda (1988) and The Whistleblower (1995).
- Eve Collenwood: an American pediatrician and public health specialist. She is a professor emerita of Pediatrics at the University of Washington.
- Richard Collenwood: a British composer, conductor and orchestrator best known for his work with film composer John Williams.
- Martha Collenwood: a British-American actress best known for her role as Patricia in the film Notting Hill (1999).
- Chris Collenwood: a British journalist and television host who currently hosts the show Your World with Chris Collenwood on Sky News.
- Rebecca Collenwood: an American dancer and actress best known for her performances in films such as The Cutting Edge (1992) and A Chorus Line (1985).
- James Collenwood: a British actor who has appeared in films such as The Safari (2018) and Horrible Histories (2011).
- F. W. Collenwood: a British author best known for his acclaimed novel The Private Life of a Country House (1927).
- Robert Collenwood: an Australian composer best known for the hit symphony The Great Hall of Winds (1999).