Meaning & origin
What it means
Woodford goes back to Old English wudu, meaning “wood.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1911. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Woodford through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 578
- 578 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1916
- 28 babies
- 2025
- 8
- #9,661 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 8 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 9,661 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 28 in 1916. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 214 as a first name in 2020; 4,740 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.
Woodford’s family of names
In English usage, Woodford as a surname has a related form in Wadforth.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Similar names
If you love Woodford, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Wolford
“wolf”
>99% boys
Worth
“enclosure”
>99% boys
Montford
“common, general, communal”
>99% boys
Welford
“well, spring, stream”
>99% boys
Willard
“a resolute and brave man”
>99% boys
Woodrow
“from the row of houses near the forest”
>99% boys
Wilfred
“one who wishes for peace”
>99% boys
Webster
“a weaver”
>99% boys