Aoki JapaneseFrom Japanese
青 (ao) meaning "green, blue" and
木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood".
Bezuidenhout DutchFrom Dutch
zuid "south" and
hout "forest". It refers to the south of the forest in The Hague.
Borde FrenchFrom Old French
bord meaning
"board, plank", derived from Frankish *
bord. This name belonged to a person who lived in a house made of planks.
Boyce EnglishFrom Old French
bois meaning
"wood", originally given to someone who lived by or in a wood.
Bradshaw EnglishFrom any of the places by this name in England, derived from Old English
brad "broad" and
sceaga "thicket".
Buchholz GermanFrom Middle High German
buoche "beech" and
holz "wood".
Castañeda SpanishHabitational name from any of various places called Castañeda, from a Spanish word meaning
"chesnut grove", itself derived from
castaña meaning "chesnut".
Delaney 1 EnglishDerived from Norman French
de l'aunaie meaning
"from the alder grove".
Dubois FrenchMeans
"from the forest", from French
bois "forest".
Forest English, FrenchOriginally belonged to a person who lived near or in a forest. It was probably originally derived, via Old French
forest, from Latin
forestam (silva) meaning "outer (wood)".
Forester EnglishDenoted a keeper or one in charge of a forest, or one who has charge of growing timber in a forest (see
Forest).
Forst GermanDerived from Old High German
forst "forest". Probably unrelated to the Old French word
forest, which was derived from Latin, Old High German
forst was derived from
foraha meaning "fir tree".
Gajos PolishDerived from Polish
gaj meaning
"grove, thicket".
Greenwood EnglishTopographic name for someone who lived in or near a lush forest, from Old English
grene "green" and
wudu "wood".
Grover EnglishFrom Old English
graf meaning
"grove of trees". A famous bearer was the American president Grover Cleveland (1837-1908).
Groves EnglishFrom Old English
graf meaning
"grove". This originally indicated a person who lived near a grove (a group of trees).
Grünewald GermanMeans
"green forest" from German
grün "green" and
Wald "forest".
Gwózdek PolishDerived from either archaic Polish
gwozd meaning
"forest" or
gwóźdź meaning
"nail".
Hájek m CzechMeans
"thicket" in Czech, a diminutive of
háj "woods".
Haywood EnglishFrom various place names meaning "fenced wood" in Old English.
Holzknecht GermanOccupational name for a forester's helper, from Old High German
holz "wood" and
kneht "servant, apprentice".
Holzmann GermanDerived from Old High German
holz "wood" and
man "man", a name for someone who lived close to a wood or worked with wood.
Homewood EnglishFrom various place names derived from Old English
ham meaning "home" and
wudu meaning "wood".
Hurst EnglishOriginally a name for a person who lived near a thicket of trees, from Old English
hyrst "thicket".
Im KoreanFrom Sino-Korean
林 (im) meaning
"forest", making it the Korean form of
Lin, or
任 (im) of uncertain meaning, making it the Korean form of
Ren.
Keith ScottishFrom a place name that is probably derived from the Brythonic element
cet meaning
"wood". This was the surname of a long line of Scottish nobles.
Kelly 2 ScottishFrom a Scottish place name derived from
coille meaning
"grove".
Kerr Scottish, EnglishFrom Scots and northern Middle English
kerr meaning
"thicket, marsh", ultimately from Old Norse
kjarr.
Koivisto FinnishMeans
"birch forest" in Finnish, derived from
koivu "birch tree".
Lepik EstonianMeans
"alder forest" in Estonian, from
lepp "alder tree".
Lund Danish, Swedish, NorwegianIndicated a person who lived near a grove of trees, from Old Norse
lundr meaning
"grove". There are towns in Sweden named Lund.
Norwood EnglishOriginally taken from a place name meaning "north wood" in Old English.
Plank German, EnglishMeans
"plank", from Old French, itself from Late Latin
planca. This could have referred to a person who lived by a plank bridge over a stream, someone who was thin, or a carpenter.
Ripley EnglishFrom the name of various English towns, from Old English
rippel "grove, thicket" and
leah "woodland, clearing". A notable fictional bearer is the character Ellen Ripley from the movie
Alien (1979) and its sequels.
Robledo SpanishMeans
"oak wood" from Spanish
roble "oak", ultimately from Latin
robur.
Sasaki JapaneseFrom Japanese
佐 (sa) meaning "help, aid" (repeated, indicated by the iteration mark
々) and
木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood".
Sawyer EnglishOccupational name meaning
"sawer of wood, woodcutter" in Middle English, ultimately from Old English
sagu meaning "saw". Mark Twain used it for the main character in his novel
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).
Shaw 1 EnglishOriginally given to a person who lived near a prominent thicket, from Old English
sceaga meaning
"thicket, copse".
Silva Portuguese, SpanishFrom Spanish or Portuguese
silva meaning
"forest". This is the most common surname in Portugal and Brazil.
Skov DanishTopographic name meaning
"forest, wood" in Danish, from Old Norse
skógr.
Skovgaard DanishFrom a place name, derived from Danish
skov "forest, wood" and
gård "farm, yard".
Soto SpanishMeans
"grove of trees, small forest" in Spanish, ultimately from Latin
saltus.
Suzuki JapaneseFrom Japanese
鈴 (suzu) meaning "bell" and
木 (ki) meaning "tree, wood". This is the second most common surname in Japan. A notable bearer was the artist Suzuki Harunobu (1725-1770).
Underwood EnglishMeans
"dweller at the edge of the woods", from Old English
under and
wudu.
Urquhart ScottishDerived from Brythonic
ar "by" and
cardden "thicket". This is the name of several places, the most famous being north of Loch Ness.
Van Laar DutchDerived from Dutch
laar (plural
laren), which means
"open spot in the forest". These areas were used to graze cattle for example.
Waldvogel German, JewishFrom a nickname for a carefree person, derived from German
Wald meaning "forest" and
Vogel meaning "bird". As a Jewish name it is ornamental.
Walkenhorst GermanPossibly derived from a German place name
Falkenhorst, from
Falken meaning "falcons" and
Horst meaning "thicket".
Walton EnglishFrom the name of any of several villages in England, derived from Old English
wealh "foreigner, Celt",
weald "forest",
weall "wall", or
wille "well, spring, water hole" combined with
tun "enclosure, yard, town".
Wood English, ScottishOriginally denoted one who lived in or worked in a forest, derived from Old English
wudu "wood".
Woodham EnglishIndicated a person who had a home near a wood, derived from Old English
wudu "wood" and
ham "home, settlement".
Woodrow EnglishFrom a place name meaning
"row of houses by a wood" in Old English.
Woodward EnglishOccupational name for a forester, meaning
"ward of the wood" in Old English.