Woodard
A surname with several possible roots, most often explained as a form of Woodward or as an old personal name linked to the Norman/Wadard tradition.
The #750 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 6,677 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Historical sources give Woodard a mixed and somewhat uncertain origin. One line of explanation treats it as a reduced or altered form of Woodward, from Old English words meaning “wood” + “guardian” or “keeper of the wood.” Another possibility links it to the medieval personal name Wadard/Wodard, a Norman name found in Domesday-era records. Because the evidence is not fully consistent, the surname is best described as having either occupational or patronymic roots, depending on the family line.
History
The name appears in medieval records in forms such as Wodard, Woodard, and related variants, and it was already being discussed by 19th-century surname scholars as an old English and Norman-influenced name. In later usage it seems to have spread as a hereditary surname in England and then in the United States, where it is now well established. Some genealogical lines may descend from the occupational sense “wood ward,” while others may reflect an inherited form of the older personal name.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century surname writers explicitly disagreed over whether Woodard comes from Woodward or from the older personal name Wadard.
From the historical record
“WOODALL for Woodhall, q.v. WOODARD (Eng.) i the 13th cent. pers. name Wodard, 12th cent. Wiidard [prob. f. O.E. wudu, wood -f- h(e)nrd, hard] 2 Wood-Herd (the herd who tended in the wood) [O.E. wudu ■\- hierde] Richard le Wodehirde. — Hund. Rolls. 3 a contr. of Woodward, q.v.”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)Notable people named Woodard
- Alfre Woodard (b. 1952)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.