Given name & surname
Sherwood
“from the bright forest”
Sherwood is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the bright forest.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the bright forest.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1891. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Sherwood through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5,682
- 5,671 boys · 11 girls
- Most popular year
- 1938
- 120 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −24%
- Easing
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 8 in 2024. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 120 in 1938. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,580 as a first name in 2020; 20,857 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Sherwood’s family of names
Sherwood has a related form in Sherwoode. Sherwood has a related form in Shurwood. Sherwood has a related form in Shurwoode.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Sherwood
- Sherwood AndersonAmerican writer (1876–1941)
- Sherwood C. SpringAmerican astronautborn 1944
- Sherwood StewartAmerican tennis playerborn 1946
- Sherwood SchwartzAmerican television writer and producer (1916–2011)
- Sherwood BoehlertAmerican politician (1936–2021)
- Sherwood WashburnAmerican archaeologist, anthropologist, prehistorian and paleoanthropologist (1911–2000)
- Sherwood Baileyfilm actor (1923-1987)
- Sherwood HuChinese American theatre and film directorborn 1961
- Sherwood MacDonaldscreenwriter, film producer1880–1968
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Sherwood, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Glade
“from the meadow in the C woods” · “from the clearing in the woods”
>99% boys
Harwood
“from the hare's forest”
>99% boys
Woody
“a woman of the forest” · “a man of the forest”
>99% boys
Morley
“woman from the moor” · “from the meadow on the moor”
92% boys · 8% girls
Mansfield
“from the field near the small river”
>99% boys
Boswell
“from the spring near the forest”
>99% boys
Holmes
“from the river island”
>99% boys
Shepley
“from the meadow of sheep”
77% boys · 23% girls