Surname Woods - Meaning and Origin
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Delving Into Ancestry: Surprising Discoveries about The Surname Woods Based on my iGENEA DNA Test
Following a long-awaited iGENEA DNA test, I embarked on a revealing journey that threw light on the origins and history of my surname - Woods. The surprising revelations about my ancestry emerged from unexpected corners, through my DNA.
L. Woods
read moreWoods: What does the surname Woods mean?
The last name Woods is a topographic name for someone who lived near a wood, or a surname derived from an English place name meaning "woods near a river". The area may have been so named because of the presence of trees, or it may have been an area of agricultural land clearances in the medieval period. As a habitational name, Woods may also have been derived from one of the numerous villages and hamlets known as Wood in England.
Woods could also have originated as an occupational name, deriving from medieval English "woodman". This was a term used to describe a worker in the woods who was responsible for felling trees and collecting wood to be used as a fuel source or as construction material.
The name Woods is generally believed to be of English origin, although variations of the name can be found throughout continental Europe. In the United States, Woods is one of the most common surnames, and is particularly prevalent in the southeastern states.
Overall, the name Woods is associated with the woods, which represent an important part of nature and of human beings' relationship with it. Woods is a name that carries with it the connection to the wild and unexplored, and reminds people of the power of nature and of our shared legacy with it.
Order DNA origin analysisWoods: Where does the name Woods come from?
The last name Woods is most commonly found in the United States and Canada, where it ranks among the top 700 most common last names. It’s also popular in some other parts of the English-speaking world, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. According to the 2019 U.S. Census Bureau data, the Woods surname is most common in the South and Midwest regions. It ranks particularly high in North Carolina (#48), Mississippi (#55), and Arkansas (#81), but can be found throughout the country.
In the UK, the Woods surname ranks among the top 800 surnames. It is particularly common in the North West region of England and Northern Ireland, where it is in the top 200. According to the Forebears’ surname distribution database, it is also one of the more commonly found surnames in England, Scotland, Wales, and the Republic of Ireland.
Tracing the origin of the Woods surname reveals that it is an English topographic name for someone who lived in or near a wood or a forest. It can also be an occupational name for a warden or keeper of a forest, or a nickname for a person who was small and energetic, like a woodpecker. In Scotland, the Woods surname is thought to be of Scottish-Gaelic origin and is sometimes spelled as Wotherspoon.
Variations of the surname Woods
The surnames Woods and Wood are of the same origin and have many different spellings and variants. The most common spellings are Wood, Woods, deWoods, deWood, DeWoods, DeWoode, DeWood, Woode, O Woods, Woodes, Woodhouse, Woodman, Woodburn, Woodcock, Woodward, Woodrow, Woodfin and deWoody.
Wood and Woods evolved from a topographical name meaning ‘a person who lived in or worked in a wooded area’. The origin of Wood and Woods can be traced back to the Old English word that evolved into modern English’ woode’.
The first recorded use of the surname comes from the 11th century when Godricus Doprofaheld is recorded in the Norman Domesday Book of 1080-1086. Later examples include Robert atte Wode recorded in 1312 and Johannes in le Wde in 1379.
Wood and Woods is a very popular surname throughout the English speaking world and is also spelled as Woods or Wood in Scotland. It is also a common name in Wales, Ireland and North America. In Wales it is spelled Bergerolls or Burghersawl and in Ireland it is spelled as O’Duin.
In Scotland the pronunciation of the name Woods varies from Wood to Woods with the variant spellings of Woodhouses and Woodhouse, and the Irish variants Woods and Woode. Woodes and Woodro are also popular over in Ireland.
In early American documents the surname is also spelled Wood, Woods and Woodhouse, with many of the Wood’s surname adopted by the United States colonists from England as early as the 1600’s. The name is also spelled as Woodee, Woods, Woodshawe, Woodrow, Woodrin and Woodling.
The origins of the surname Wood, Woods and Woodhouse are clearly traceable back to the branches of a single family tree and although they may have travelled to different continents and adopted different spelling of the name, the original meaning remains unchanged.
Famous people with the name Woods
- Tiger Woods: professional golfer, holder of numerous records, entrepreneur, activist, and philanthropist.
- Joanne Woods: professional ballet dancer and former artistic director of American Ballet Theatre
- Tank Woods: American rapper and singer
- Earl Woods: US Army veteran and Tiger Woods' father
- Tyrese Woods: American professional basketball player
- KJ Woods: American football player
- Chelsea Woods: American fashion and lifestyle influencer
- Botshelo Tobane Woods: South African television presenter
- Eddie Lee Woods: actor and stuntman
- Everett Eugene Woods: inventor of the automatic turret lathe
- Lloyd Woods: former professional footballer in England
- Bill Woods: American cinematographer
- Ephraim Woods: former state court judge from Texas
- Sheryl Woods: American author
- Donna N. Woods: American astrophysicist
- Mae Woods: member of the United States House of Representatives
- Bruce Woods: American gospel music artist
- William Woods: US Naval officer