Lockwood
A habitational surname from places named for a “locked” or enclosed wood.
The #1,806 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 15,542 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Lockwood is generally explained as a habitational surname, taken from one or more English places called Lockwood, especially in Yorkshire. The name is usually analyzed as Old English locc or a related form meaning “lock,” “enclosure,” or “barrier,” plus wudu, “wood,” giving the sense of a fenced, closed, or protected woodland. Nineteenth-century surname dictionaries treat it as a place-name surname rather than an occupational one.
History
The name is strongly associated with northern England, particularly Yorkshire, where a township or locality called Lockwood gave rise to the surname. As with many locational surnames, it would have been adopted by people who left the place and were identified by it elsewhere. It later spread widely in Britain and then to English-speaking countries, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because it looks like a compound of two everyday words, Lockwood is often guessed to mean a locked forest, and that is close to the usual historical explanation.
From the historical record
“LOCKTOX. A chapclry in Yorkshire. LOCKWOOD. A township in York- shire. LOCKYEAR. See Lockyer. LOCKYER. A lockraaker. LOCOCK. See Luke. LODDIGES. "The son of Lodic or Ludwig." Talbot's Eng. Etym.”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom