How common is the surname Woodward?

36,764 people in the United States had the surname Woodward in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 8,398 Americans. It ranked 944th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Woodward?

Joanne Woodward, American actress (born 1930), followed by Robert Burns Woodward.

Where is the surname Woodward most common?

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

Is the surname Woodward getting more or less common?

More common. 36,242 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 36,764 in 2010, up 1.4%.

The surname Woodward

An occupational surname, carried by 36,764 people in the United States.

2 syllables Soundex W363

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Woodward is more common than 99.4% of them.

Origin

Occupational surname from woodward.

Woodward is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 36,764 people named Woodward in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 8,398 Americans. That is up 1.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 36,242.

#944

rank among US surnames

36,764

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+1.4%

change since 2000 (was #875)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#935	Moyer	37,050	8,333
#936	Lim	37,021	8,340
#937	Frye	36,973	8,351
#938	Sheppard	36,960	8,354
#939	McCarty	36,944	8,357
#940	Avalos	36,922	8,362
#941	Booker	36,840	8,381

Who is named Woodward

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

90% of people named Woodward identified as white (not Hispanic), 4.8% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.4% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 90%
Black (not Hispanic) 4.8%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.4%
Two or more races 1.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.6%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Woodwards

18 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Joanne Woodward
American actress (born 1930)
Robert Burns Woodward
American chemist, 1917–1979
Bob Woodward
American investigative journalist (born 1943)
Edward Woodward
British actor (1930–2009)
Shannon Woodward
American actress, born 1984
Morgan Woodward
American actor (1925-2019)
Sandy Woodward
British admiral (1932-2013)
Danielle Woodward
Australian canoeist, born 1965
C. Vann Woodward
American historian (1908-1999)
Barbara Woodward
British diplomat, born 1961
Andy Woodward
American chess player, born 2010
Dani Woodward
American pornographic actress, born 1984

Notable Woodwards come mostly from the United States (10), the United Kingdom (5) and Australia (3).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Woodward

Woodward has the Soundex code W363, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code W363.

Questions

Where does the surname Woodward come from?: Occupational surname from woodward.
How common is the surname Woodward?: 36,764 people in the United States had the surname Woodward in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 8,398 Americans. It ranked 944th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Woodward?: In the 2010 Census, 90% of people named Woodward identified as white (not Hispanic), and 4.8% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Woodward?: Joanne Woodward, American actress (born 1930), followed by Robert Burns Woodward.
Where is the surname Woodward most common?: Wikidata records people named Woodward in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
What type of surname is Woodward?: Woodward is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Woodward getting more or less common?: More common. 36,242 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 36,764 in 2010, up 1.4%.