ATTWOOD
Attwood is a surname of English origin, deriving from the Old English element æt meaning “at” and wudu meaning “wood”. The name is a locational or topographic designation, indicating that the earliest bearers of the name resided near or within a forested area in the British Isles.
The construction of such topographical surnames dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when natural features provided a convenient means of distinguishing individuals in a small medieval population. Variants of the name that appear in historical documentation include Atwood, Attewood, and Atwode.
Evidence suggests that the first recorded instance of the name, in the form Attewode, occurred in 1243, when Thomas Attewode served as a witness in the Assize Court Rolls of Somerset during the reign of King Henry the First (reigned 1216‑1272). Further early records cite Agnes Attewode of Oxfordshire in 1273, William Attewood of Norfolk in 1439, and Robert Atwode of Oxfordshire in 1457.
By the late seventeenth century, individuals bearing the surname had begun to appear outside England, as illustrated by the 1680 parish registers of St. Michael's, Barbados, which document a Richard Attwood and his wife among the earliest settlers in the New World colonies.
The surname gained a specific regional association within England, attaining particular prevalence in the Midlands, although it remains common across the country. In recent times, the name has spread to other English-speaking regions, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Wales, carried by waves of emigration from Britain.
Despite this wide distribution, Attwood is not among the most frequent surnames; it ranks as the 7 003rd most common surname worldwide. The surname shares its structural pattern with others such as Elwood, Norwood, and Linwood, all of which denote proximity to a particular landscape feature. The prefix At was historically appended to a variety of surnames to differentiate individuals within a given community based on their place of residence or occupation.
Typical given names associated with the Attwood surname
Male
- Anthony
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Martin
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
Female
- Christine
- Claire
- Elizabeth
- Helen
- Jane
- Jean
- Louise
- Margaret
- Mary
- Nicola
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Attwood in...
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There are approximately 6,360 people named Attwood in the UK. That makes it roughly the 1,490th most common surname in Britain. Around 98 in a million people in Britain are named Attwood.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Attwood
- Shaun Attwood - Writer, convicted criminal and YouTuber
- Richard Attwood - Racing driver
- Dave Attwood - Rugby union player
- Tony Attwood - Psychologist
- David Attwood - Film director
- Terri Attwood - Researcher
- Alex Attwood - Northern Irish politician
- Thomas Attwood - Politician (1783 to 1856)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.