Hazelwood
A locational surname meaning “the wood where hazels grow.”
The #5,304 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 47,015 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hazelwood is a locational surname built from hazel + wood. In English place-name usage, it referred to a woodland area notable for hazel trees or hazelnuts, and in surname form it usually marks someone who came from such a place or lived near one. The historical sources also treat it as a local name rather than an occupational or nickname surname.
History
The name appears in 19th-century surname dictionaries as a straightforward local surname, alongside related forms such as Hazleton and Hazlewood. It likely arose independently in more than one place, since hazel-filled woods and minor place-names of this kind were common in England. Modern bearers are chiefly found in English-speaking countries, especially the United States and the United Kingdom.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Hazelwood belongs to a large family of surnames derived from trees and woodland features, one of the most common sources of English place-based names.
From the historical record
“HAZELRIGG. Local. The hazel-ridge. HAZELWOOD. Local. A wood where hazel-nuts grow. HAZEN or HASEK (Dan.) A hare. HEAD. Anciently written Hede or Hide, Probably from the place written Hede or Hide in Doomsday Book, now Hithe, in Kent, Englandj where the earliest traces of the Head family are found. From the…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names