Woodson
An English surname usually understood as “son of Wood,” though some sources also connect it to the old personal name Wudda.
The #2,098 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 17,907 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most historical surname dictionaries treat Woodson as a patronymic built from Wood plus the suffix -son, meaning “son of Wood.” Some writers also relate it to the Old English personal name Wudda, an early Anglo-Saxon name recorded in medieval sources. A minority explanation links it instead to an older form meaning “widow’s son,” but that is usually presented as secondary or less likely.
History
The name is recorded in England by the 16th and early 17th centuries, and later appears in American records as well. Nineteenth-century surname scholars debated whether it was a direct patronymic from Wood or a reduced form of Wooderson. The surname is now especially familiar in English-speaking countries, including the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some old surname books explicitly list Woodson as a shortened form of Wooderson, showing how easily English surnames could contract over time.
From the historical record
“WOODSIDE (Eng.) Dweller at the Side of the Wood [O.E. wudu -\- side\ WOODSON, a contr. of Wooderson, q.v. WOODSTOCK (Eng.) Bel. to Woodstock (Oxfd.), 13th cent. Wddestok = the- En- closure of the Wood [O.E. wudu + stoc'\ Henry L had a zoological park here, as related by William of Malmesbury — . . . leones…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)