Harwood

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A surname of English origin carried by many families ; a village or town in England that bears this name
2. A family name traditionally found in England ; a settlement in England named after this surname or landmark
3. A common English surname passed down through families ; the name of a small English town or village

Etymology: "Harwood" is a surname, and its roots lie in two Old English words that could each have supplied the first half. One is "hara", meaning hare, the animal; the other is "hār", meaning hoar or grey, as in grey with age or frost. The second element is "wudu", meaning wood. Compounds like this were common in Old English place-naming, so the name most likely described a wood where hares were found, or a grey or ancient wood, with the surname then taken from a person who lived by or worked in such a place. Because both "hara" and "hār" could produce the same spelling, the exact sense cannot be pinned down from the form alone. Medieval surnames of this kind often began as descriptions of a place, then passed down through families who had moved away from it, so the name's meaning survives even when the wood itself is long gone.