Woodman
An English surname meaning either a woodcutter/forester or, in some cases, a descendant of an old personal name built from “wood.”
The #6,213 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 56,085 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The common explanation is occupational: Middle English woodman, from Old English wudu “wood” + mann “man,” referred to someone who worked in the woods, especially a woodcutter or forester. Some early writers also note a possible baptismal origin from an old Anglo-Saxon personal name such as Wudeman or Wodemund, so the surname may have more than one source. In practice, the occupational sense is usually the main one.
History
The name is recorded very early in England, with a Wodeman appearing in Domesday-era material, showing that it was in use as a personal appellation before surnames became fixed. Historical surname dictionaries also connect it with place-names such as Woodmancote, Woodmanstone, and Woodmansey, which preserve the older form. The surname has remained established in England and later spread to other English-speaking countries, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some early place-names, like Woodmansey in Yorkshire, preserve the surname-like form and help show how old the word is in English records.
From the historical record
“+ loc(a, efi closure, fold] WOODMAN (Eng.) Woodman, Wood-Cutter;' Forester ; later Hunter [M.E. wodeman, wudeman ; O.E. wudu + mann] / Wudeman{n was a personal name among the Anglo-Saxons. Inaprbclama- tion by EadgyS, queen of Eadward the Confessor, judgment is asked for on a certain undesirable fenant named Wude-…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)