NameCensus.

UK surname

Wood

An English occupational surname for someone who lived or worked in or near a wood or forest.

In the 1881 census there were 95,380 people recorded with the Wood surname, ranking it #15 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 111,776, ranked #24, down from #15 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to London parishes, Edinburgh and Manchester. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include Leeds, Cullen, Portknockie, Findochty, Drybridge and Berryhillock and Kirklees.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Wood is 117,771 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 17.2%.

1881 census count

95,380

Ranked #15

Modern count

111,776

2016, ranked #24

Peak year

1999

117,771 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Wood had 95,380 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #15 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 111,776 in 2016, ranked #24.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 117,278 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Wood surname distribution map

The map shows where the Wood surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Wood surname density by area, 1881 census.

Loading map
Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Wood over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 64,259 #15
1861 historical 69,717 #15
1881 historical 95,380 #15
1891 historical 104,878 #15
1901 historical 117,256 #15
1911 historical 117,278 #15
1997 modern 112,995 #21
1998 modern 117,333 #21
1999 modern 117,771 #21
2000 modern 117,040 #21
2001 modern 113,837 #21
2002 modern 115,875 #21
2003 modern 112,868 #21
2004 modern 112,485 #22
2005 modern 110,440 #22
2006 modern 110,024 #22
2007 modern 110,627 #23
2008 modern 110,951 #23
2009 modern 113,541 #23
2010 modern 115,529 #23
2011 modern 114,205 #23
2012 modern 111,458 #24
2013 modern 113,194 #24
2014 modern 113,859 #24
2015 modern 112,517 #24
2016 modern 111,776 #24

Geography

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Where Woods are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around London parishes, Edinburgh, Manchester and Bradford. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to Leeds, Cullen, Portknockie, Findochty, Drybridge and Berryhillock, Kirklees and North Warwickshire. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Some modern areas include a three-digit suffix, such as Leeds 110. The suffix is a small-area code, so it stays in the table while the prose uses the plain place name.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 London parishes London 1
2 London parishes London 3
3 Edinburgh Edinburgh
4 Manchester Lancashire
5 Bradford Yorkshire, West Riding

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 Leeds 110 Leeds
2 Cullen, Portknockie, Findochty, Drybridge and Berryhillock Moray
3 Kirklees 057 Kirklees
4 North Warwickshire 003 North Warwickshire
5 Kirklees 059 Kirklees

Forenames

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First names often paired with Wood

These lists show first names that appear often with the Wood surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Wood

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Wood, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities

Group

Rural Amenity

Nationally, the Wood surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Rural Amenity, within Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities. This does not mean every Wood household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

This Group comprises older parents or retirees, with no resident dependent children, and with the lowest residential densities in this Supergroup. Predominantly UK-born, residents typically live in detached houses, although others do live in semi-detached and terraced properties. The level of multiple car ownership is the highest in this Supergroup. Most houses are owner occupied although social renting is also present. Many concentrations occur in high amenity rural locations, such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Wider pattern

Pervasive throughout the UK, members of this Supergroup typically own (or are buying) their detached, semi-detached or terraced homes. They are also typically educated to A Level/Highers or degree level and work in skilled or professional occupations. Typically born in the UK, some families have children, although the median adult age is above 45 and some property has become under-occupied after children have left home. This Supergroup is pervasive not only in suburban locations, but also in neighbourhoods at or beyond the edge of cities that adjoin rural parts of the country.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Wood is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers, part of The Greater London Mix. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Mainly located in Inner London, these neighbourhoods retain a diverse employment structure, with some concentration in associated professional and technical occupations rather than skilled trades or construction. Social renting is more common and levels of homeownership are low. Many residents identify as Black. There is a lower than average rate of marriage or civil partnership, few that are very old (85 or over) and higher than average incidence of disability.

Wider London pattern

A Supergroup embodying London's diversity in many respects, apart from low numbers of residents identifying as of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani or Other (non-Chinese) Asian ethnicity. There is lower than average prevalence of families with dependent children, while there are above average occurrences of never-married individuals and single-person households. The age distribution is skewed towards younger, single residents and couples without children, with many individuals identifying as of mixed or multiple ethnicity. Social rented or private rented housing is slightly more prevalent than average, and many residents live in flats. Individuals typically work in professional and associated roles in public administration, education or health rather than in elementary occupations in agriculture, energy, water, construction or manufacturing. Incidence of students is slightly below average. Individuals declaring no religion are more prevalent than average and non-use of English at home is below average.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Wood is most concentrated in decile 7 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname near the middle of the scale.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

7
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Wood falls in decile 8 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname towards the less deprived end of the index.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

8
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Wood is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 30-40 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

6
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Wood, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Wood

The surname WOOD is an English surname that originated as a topographic name for someone who lived by or in a wood or forest. It is derived from the Old English word 'wudu' meaning wood or forest. The name can be traced back to the 12th century in various records and manuscripts from that time.

One of the earliest recorded examples of the surname WOOD is found in the Pipe Rolls of Staffordshire in 1199, which mention a Robert de Wude. The Hundred Rolls of 1273 also list several people with the name WOOD, including John del Wode and William de la Wode. These early spellings highlight the topographic origin of the name, with the prepositions 'de' and 'del' indicating someone living near or by a wood.

The surname WOOD is also found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror. The book mentions several places with the name 'Wode', such as Wode in Hampshire and Wode in Buckinghamshire, which may have been the locations from where some early WOOD families derived their name.

One notable person with the surname WOOD was Sir Andrew Wood (c. 1455-1542), a Scottish naval captain and merchant who played a significant role in the naval battles between Scotland and England in the 16th century. Another famous bearer of the name was Robert Wood (1622-1685), an English mathematician and geographer who wrote several important works on navigation and astronomy.

Other notable individuals with the surname WOOD include: 1. Leonard Wood (1860-1927), an American military officer and Medal of Honor recipient. 2. Grant Wood (1891-1942), an American painter best known for his iconic work 'American Gothic'. 3. Samuel Wood (1609-1681), an early English settler in colonial Massachusetts and a prominent figure in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 4. Natalie Wood (1938-1981), an American actress who starred in numerous films, including 'Rebel Without a Cause' and 'West Side Story'. 5. Evan Rachel Wood (born 1987), an American actress known for her roles in films like 'Thirteen' and the HBO series 'Westworld'.

The surname WOOD has been widespread throughout England and Scotland for centuries and is now found across many parts of the English-speaking world.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Wood families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Wood surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Yorkshire leads with 19,144 Woods recorded in 1881 and an index of 2.08x.

County Total Index
Yorkshire 19,144 2.08x
Lancashire 13,015 1.18x
Middlesex 7,904 0.85x
Kent 5,079 1.60x
Surrey 4,767 1.05x
Staffordshire 4,608 1.47x
Cheshire 3,535 1.72x
Durham 2,598 0.94x
Derbyshire 2,530 1.74x
Essex 2,326 1.27x
Sussex 2,296 1.46x
Warwickshire 2,274 0.97x
Northumberland 1,587 1.15x
Nottinghamshire 1,532 1.22x
Gloucestershire 1,503 0.82x
Worcestershire 1,494 1.23x
Devon 1,469 0.76x
Lanarkshire 1,308 0.43x
Midlothian 1,291 1.04x
Leicestershire 1,223 1.19x
Lincolnshire 1,084 0.73x
Aberdeenshire 861 1.00x
Somerset 776 0.52x
Cumberland 743 0.93x
Shropshire 654 0.81x
Kincardineshire 592 5.22x
Hampshire 578 0.30x
Banffshire 559 2.90x
Northamptonshire 545 0.62x
Angus 496 0.58x
Fife 408 0.74x
Hertfordshire 406 0.63x
Herefordshire 385 1.01x
Berwickshire 339 3.01x
Roxburghshire 324 1.92x
Suffolk 314 0.28x
Ayrshire 299 0.43x
Glamorgan 278 0.17x
Renfrewshire 255 0.35x
East Lothian 245 1.99x
Berkshire 241 0.34x
Buckinghamshire 224 0.40x
Norfolk 208 0.15x
Oxfordshire 205 0.36x
Bedfordshire 202 0.42x
Montgomeryshire 189 0.89x
Monmouthshire 174 0.26x
Dorset 157 0.26x
Wiltshire 145 0.18x
Cambridgeshire 139 0.24x
Orkney 135 1.32x
Selkirkshire 135 1.60x
Cornwall 132 0.13x
Perthshire 117 0.28x
Westmorland 113 0.55x
Dumfriesshire 103 0.50x
West Lothian 96 0.68x
Stirlingshire 95 0.28x
Dunbartonshire 92 0.37x
Huntingdonshire 86 0.47x
Isle of Man 78 0.45x
Royal Navy 71 0.64x
Kirkcudbrightshire 62 0.46x
Morayshire 61 0.42x
Shetland 41 0.43x
Channel Islands 40 0.15x
Brecknockshire 36 0.19x
Denbighshire 36 0.10x
Flintshire 35 0.14x
Caernarfonshire 34 0.09x
Pembrokeshire 34 0.11x
Rutland 32 0.47x
Inverness-shire 31 0.11x
Argyllshire 26 0.10x
Merionethshire 26 0.15x
Cardiganshire 24 0.11x
Peeblesshire 24 0.55x
Wigtownshire 21 0.17x
Carmarthenshire 19 0.05x
Ross-shire 18 0.07x
Sutherland 14 0.20x
Clackmannanshire 13 0.17x
Radnorshire 10 0.13x
Kinross-shire 6 0.26x
Buteshire 5 0.09x
Caithness 3 0.02x
Nairnshire 3 0.11x
Anglesey 1 0.01x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Leeds in Yorkshire leads with 1,194 Woods recorded in 1881 and an index of 2.29x.

Place Total Index
Leeds 1,194 2.29x
Oldham 849 2.38x
Islington London 835 0.93x
Lambeth 751 0.93x
Birmingham 703 0.90x
Camberwell 671 1.13x
Ashton Under Lyne 628 2.60x
St Pancras London 601 0.80x
Aston 599 0.93x
Hackney London 596 1.14x
Manchester 590 1.19x
Stoke Upon Trent 567 1.70x
Saddleworth 553 7.77x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 522 1.04x
Salford 488 1.50x
Huddersfield 474 3.53x
Bradford 459 2.06x
Bethnal Green London 456 1.13x
Croydon 442 1.76x
Brighton 441 1.39x
Nottingham St Mary 420 1.29x
St Marylebone London 418 0.84x
Mile End Old Town 406 2.76x
Hulme 404 1.75x
Sheffield 384 1.31x
Hunslet 383 2.66x
Shoreditch London 372 0.92x
Bermondsey 361 1.30x
West Ham 360 0.89x
Barony 339 0.45x
Glossop Dale 328 4.81x
Govan 320 0.43x
Kensington London 319 0.62x
Horton In Bradford 317 2.20x
Brightside Bierlow 314 1.74x
Chorlton On Medlock 307 1.75x
Paddington London 304 0.89x
Newington 299 0.87x
Manningham 296 2.60x
Dukinfield 289 3.04x
Kingswinford 289 2.53x
Battersea 285 0.83x
Liverpool 285 0.42x
Wigan 280 1.81x
West Derby 279 0.86x
Halifax 268 1.98x
Little Bolton 268 1.89x
Bury 265 2.10x
Toxteth Park 260 0.70x
Holy Trinity 255 1.15x
Great Bolton 246 1.68x
Ecclesall Bierlow 241 1.28x
Deptford St Paul 240 0.98x
Glasgow 240 0.45x
Stockport 237 2.24x
St George Hanover 233 1.92x
Dudley 231 1.56x
Bowling 230 2.52x
Bingley 224 3.81x
Chadderton 223 4.13x
Gateshead 216 1.04x
Leicester St Margaret 211 0.84x
Everton 210 0.60x
Bishopwearmouth 209 0.88x
Darlington 208 1.95x
Gorton 208 2.00x
Nether Hallam 208 1.67x
Almondbury 207 4.64x
Blackburn 205 0.70x
Banchory Devenick 201 18.98x
Clerkenwell London 201 0.91x
Chelsea London 200 0.71x
Headingley Cum Burley 196 3.30x
Burslem 194 2.16x
Wolverhampton 194 0.80x
Liversedge 192 4.68x
Wolstanton 192 2.01x
Rathven 191 5.27x
Barnsley 188 1.98x
Middlesbrough 186 1.55x
Maidstone 184 1.95x
Pendleton In Salford 181 1.38x
Skircoat 181 4.98x
Aberdeen Old Machar 180 1.00x
Greenwich 179 1.21x
Cleckheaton 177 5.21x
Macclesfield 177 1.94x
Aberdeen St Nicholas 176 1.09x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Wood surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
Mary 5,994
Sarah 3,523
Elizabeth 3,374
Ann 1,841
Jane 1,630
Annie 1,370
Alice 1,368
Eliza 1,364
Emma 1,352
Hannah 1,281
Ellen 1,228
Emily 983
Martha 972
Margaret 816
Harriet 607
Ada 518
Maria 503
Louisa 502
Fanny 493
Charlotte 491
Florence 481
Caroline 467
Edith 465
Clara 455
Catherine 376
Frances 342
Lucy 320
Kate 305
Agnes 304
Anne 296
Isabella 286
Esther 267
Harriett 256
Amelia 236
Susan 231
Rebecca 212
Amy 195
Matilda 194
Elizth. 183
Rose 183
Susannah 180
Minnie 168
Jessie 161
Sophia 159
Lydia 152
Ruth 152
Julia 151
Grace 146
Ethel 143
Eleanor 139

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Wood surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
John 5,214
William 5,142
George 2,940
James 2,885
Thomas 2,823
Joseph 1,867
Charles 1,809
Henry 1,679
Robert 1,009
Alfred 937
Arthur 867
Samuel 863
Edward 815
Richard 705
Frederick 669
Walter 622
Albert 606
Harry 494
Herbert 384
Frank 359
David 315
Ernest 314
Benjamin 288
Fred 275
Wm. 255
Edwin 254
Francis 219
Tom 195
Thos. 179
Isaac 177
Peter 169
Daniel 142
Geo. 126
Stephen 124
Abraham 115
Percy 103
Matthew 98
Ralph 98
Sam 96
Chas. 92
Alexander 91
Joe 91
Sidney 88
Jonathan 86
Joshua 82
Mark 80
Andrew 74
Edmund 73
Fredk. 72
Christopher 69

Top occupations

Occupational titles are kept as recorded and later transcribed, so related jobs, spelling variants and mistakes stay separate. Scholar was the census term for a child in education. That means the other rows often tell you more about adult work in Wood households.

FAQ

Wood surname: questions and answers

How common was the Wood surname in 1881?

In 1881, 95,380 people were recorded with the Wood surname. That placed it at #15 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Wood surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 111,776 in 2016. That gives Wood a modern rank of #24.

What does the Wood surname mean?

An English occupational surname for someone who lived or worked in or near a wood or forest.

What does the Wood map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Wood bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.