Leatherwood
A rare surname most likely taken from a place-name or natural feature involving a ‘leatherwood’ tree or shrub.
The #7,488 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 69,397 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Leatherwood is an English-language surname built from the common words leather and wood. In surname use, it is most plausibly a topographic or locational name referring to someone who lived near a place known for leatherwood plants or a wooded area called Leatherwood. The name may also reflect an American place-name ultimately inspired by the leatherwood shrub/tree name, rather than a direct occupational meaning.
History
The name is uncommon in the historical record and appears mainly in North America. The 19th-century surname literature includes it among other nature-based family names, which supports the idea that it functioned as a descriptive or place-derived surname. In the United States it remains relatively rare, with only a few thousand bearers in the 2010 census.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Leatherwood is one of several surnames that sound like a tree or shrub name, alongside names such as Basswood, Juniper, and Elmwood.
From the historical record
“Juniper, Hedgewood, Basswood, Shumac, Zumach, Shoemake, Wortle (Whortle), Barberry, Rowantree, Roantree, - Elm- wood, Leatherwood, Briecwood, Hogwood (?), Arrowwood, - Greentree, Poplartree, Goosetree, Cherrytree, Cherrystone, Clingstone, Appletree, Peartree, Plumtree, Sloetree, Crabtree, Melontree, Citrontree…”
— A Grammar of American Surnames