occupational name for a forester employed to look
after the trees and game in a forest, Middle English woodward
(from the Old English elements mentioned at 2).
perhaps also from
an Old English personal name Wuduweard, composed of the
elements wudu ‘wood’ + weard ‘guardian’,
‘protector’.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
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