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Origin of the name Woodward - derives from ‘Wood-Reeve' or Wood Warden. A judicial officer of a Royal Wood, appointed under Edward II's reign (1307—1327) as a “legal keeper of the vert and venison, pannage of hogs and lawning of dogs, with responsibility for referring offenders to the Verderer at the Forest Assizes” (Beardsley's Guide to English Surnames.)

In Britain the use of names began with single names formed from two ordinary or common words, such as Hrothgar (from the Anglo-Saxon words for fame and spear) from which we obtain the modern name Roger. However, by the tenth century as Europe's population increased significantly, a single name was not sufficient to identify people, and the use of surnames became more common.

In 911 AD, north France was settled by the Vikings led by Rollo the Ganger, who later became the 1st Duke of Normandy (Northmen). The records in Cherbourg, France, in 912 AD, show that Rollo rewarded a family of Norwegians called Vidarvarde for war services rendered, and this name is said to be one of the earliest versions of the name because of its phonetic similarity to Woodward when pronounced in Anglo Saxon 'English' - i.e. VudVard. Records also show that a Richard du Boisgarde came to England with William the Conqueror, (a descendant of Rollo) and some have suggested that this name is linked to the name Woodward through its literal translation as wood guard. Whatever the merit of these suggestions, it was the Normans who introduced to Britian surnames as we know them today.

The use of occupations as surnames

Surnames derived from a number of sources. These include occupations (trades), villages, counties, relationships and in some cases physical attributes (eg. Redhead). Relationship names include John the son of John - John Johnson, Ericson (son of Eric), Harrison (Henry's son - Harry is a nick name for Henry), Jackson, Richardson, Stevenson and Williamson etc. Occupational names cover every known job in history, the most common being Smith, Tailor, Wright, Cook and Baker. Other common examples of occupational names are Barber, Brewer, Carpenter, Cartwright, Cooper (barrel maker), Fisher, Potter, Saddler, Wainwright (a wheel maker) and Walker (a cloth treader or fuller), to name but a few. The origin of Woodward as an occupational name from the role of Wood Warden, is therefore easy to see.

Reaney and Wilson, in their Dictionary of English Surnames, cite the name as being of Old English origin, originally pronounced "Wuduweard" ( a forester). The first 'official' English reference to the name appears as Waudard in the Doomsday Book in 1086. Other evidence of the name comes from various sources in the 13th century: such as Sewhal le Wudeward in 1208 (Pipe Rolls of Hampshire); Henry the Reeve also called Henry le Wudeward in 1221 (Assize Rolls Warwickshire); Ralph de Wodeward 1230 (Pipe Rolls Hertfordshire) and Robert Wodeward 1296 (Pipe Rolls Sussex). 

England in the Middle Ages was covered with dense woodland, and throughout English history woods and forests have been an important part of the local and national economy. They were of special interest to Royalty as a source of timber for weapons and building, of charcoal for smelting iron and also for hunting. For this reason special wardens or Reeves were appointed to protect these valuable assets of the King, and whilst some suggest that Edward II (1307 - 1327) first introduced Wood Reeves to look after his Royal woods, their appointment is more likely to have been established in Normandy well before the invasion of England in 1066.

The Kings Subsidy Roll for 1370 (in Edward III's reign) in Gloucestershire recites a large number of Wodewards in the county, and by the end of the 1400s the name was also well established in Worcestershire and Warwickshire, two heavily wooded counties and favourite haunts of Royalty. By the time that Parish Records began in 1538, the name was most common in its 'Woodward' form.

Woodwards in America Mayflower painting © Mike Haywood Between the period 1630-1699, 850,000 people emigrated from Britain to the USA and West Indies area. There were no Woodwards listed as passengers on the Mayflower that sailed from Plymouth, England in September 1620, but the first record of a Woodward is of a Richard Woodward who settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA, in 1634 with his wife and two sons. Five other families are recorded as settling in New England around this period, and a survey in 1978 showed there to be just over 40,000 adult Americans named Woodward

Variations in the spelling

There are a number of variations of the name; the most common ones being Wodward, Woodard, Woodwarde, and Wodard. These variations mainly came about due to the illiteracy of the population and the wide variety of local accents. The vicar of a parish, whose job it was to record christenings, marriages and deaths, could only write down the name as it sounded to him. He couldn't ask people how to spell their name as in most cases they had no idea of how it would be written. This meant that it was not uncommon for a person to be born with one spelling, married with another, and buried with a headstone which showed a third variation, even though all three spellings related to the same person. As these variations became recorded they became 'official' names, and even different branches of the same family could end up with a different spelling of their name, giving the impression later that they were in fact different families. When civil registration of births, deaths and marriages became compulsory in England in 1837, the variations of the name written earlier in the parish records continued as the family name. Most variations are still with us today. 

Distribution By 1881 the county of Gloucestershire still had the highest recorded number of people named Woodward anywhere in England, but Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire ran a close second. The name also appeared in large numbers in Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Oxfordshire and parts of Cheshire. It was rare in Wales, Scotland, East Anglia and along the whole of the south coast (from Kent to Cornwall), although by 1998 the number recorded in Cornwall and Devon had risen considerably. The fact that more than 2.4 million people emigrated from Britain between 1551 and 1851, may also help to explain why the name crops up as far away as North America, Australia and New Zealand.

Summary

It seems very likely that the name is occupational in origin, which means that in family history terms, without additional evidence, no two families with the name can be said to be related. This makes research of Woodward families more difficult, especially where they may be (as in the 1700s and 1800s) a large number of people bearing the same Christian name (John, William, Thomas etc), all born around the same time within a small radius of a town or village.

What is certain is that in its old english format (Waudard) it can be traced back almost 1000 years, and if, as some suggest, it has Viking origins, then it dates back even further than this.