How common is the surname Greenwood?

24,971 people in the United States had the surname Greenwood in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 12,364 Americans. It ranked 1,422nd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Greenwood?

Colin Greenwood, Bass player for rock band Radiohead.Bass player for Nick Cave and the Bad Seed., followed by Charlotte Greenwood.

Where is the surname Greenwood most common?

Wikidata records people named Greenwood in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

How do you pronounce Greenwood?

Greenwood is /ˈɡɹin.wʊd/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Greenwood getting more or less common?

More common. 24,301 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 24,971 in 2010, up 2.8%.

The surname Greenwood

A surname, carried by 24,971 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɡɹin.wʊd/ 2 syllables Soundex G653

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Greenwood is more common than 99.1% of them.

Origin

* Probably from green + wood, an area covered with trees. * The village in Nova Scotia was named for the heavily forested location of the settlement.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 24,971 people named Greenwood in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 12,364 Americans. That is up 2.8% since 2000, when the Census counted 24,301.

#1,422

rank among US surnames

24,971

people in 2010

8.5

per 100,000 Americans

+2.8%

change since 2000 (was #1,334)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#1,413	Manley	25,136	12,283
#1,414	Helton	25,118	12,292
#1,415	Song	25,110	12,296
#1,416	Quick	25,091	12,305
#1,417	Leslie	25,078	12,311
#1,418	Stern	25,074	12,313
#1,419	Givens	25,067	12,317

Who is named Greenwood

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

81% of people named Greenwood identified as white (not Hispanic), 14% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.6% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 81%
Black (not Hispanic) 14%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.6%
Two or more races 1.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.0%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Greenwoods

15 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Colin Greenwood
Bass player for rock band Radiohead.Bass player for Nick Cave and the Bad Seed., born 1969
Charlotte Greenwood
(1890-1978) American dancer and actor
Lee Greenwood
American country music artist, born 1942
Joan Greenwood
British actress (1921–1987)
Nimrod Greenwood
Australian rower, 1929–2016
Winifred Greenwood
American actress (1885–1961)
David Greenwood
American basketball player (born 1957)
Norman Greenwood
Australian chemist (1925-2012)
Chester Greenwood
American inventor (1858–1937)
Marion Greenwood
American muralist, painter and printmaker (1909-1970)
James C. Greenwood
American politician (born 1951)
Kerry Greenwood
Australian crime writer, 1954–2025

Notable Greenwoods come mostly from the United States (8), the United Kingdom (5) and Australia (2).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Greenwood

Greenwood has the Soundex code G653, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code G653.

Questions

Where does the surname Greenwood come from?: * Probably from green + wood, an area covered with trees. * The village in Nova Scotia was named for the heavily forested location of the settlement.
How common is the surname Greenwood?: 24,971 people in the United States had the surname Greenwood in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 12,364 Americans. It ranked 1,422nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Greenwood?: In the 2010 Census, 81% of people named Greenwood identified as white (not Hispanic), and 14% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Greenwood?: Colin Greenwood, Bass player for rock band Radiohead.Bass player for Nick Cave and the Bad Seed., followed by Charlotte Greenwood.
Where is the surname Greenwood most common?: Wikidata records people named Greenwood in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
How do you pronounce Greenwood?: Greenwood is /ˈɡɹin.wʊd/, 2 syllables.
Is the surname Greenwood getting more or less common?: More common. 24,301 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 24,971 in 2010, up 2.8%.