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Home › Baby Names Directory › Norwood

Norwood

♂ Boy

Pronounced NOR-wood /ˈnɔr.wʊd/High

Meaning: Norwood is an English place-name and surname from Old English north, 'north,' and wudu, 'wood' — 'the north wood.' As a given name it carries that woodland place meaning, in the surname-forename tradition alongside Sherwood and Elwood.Medium

In 30 seconds: Norwood is an English place-and-surname meaning 'north wood' (said 'NOR-wood'). It was a modest early-twentieth-century boy's name.
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Origin MediumEnglish
MeaningNorwood is an English place-name and surname from Old English north, 'north,' and wudu, 'wood' — 'the north wood.' As a given name it carries that woodland place meaning, in the surname-forename tradition alongside Sherwood and Elwood.
U.S. rank (1997)#8953 ↗ Rising
1997 U.S. births6 boys (0.00% of U.S. boys)
Peak year1921
Total births (all-time)≈ 2,909

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

peak 192118831997

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Norwood comes from English places called Norwood, from Old English north and wudu, 'the north wood.' Like Sherwood and Elwood, it moved from place to surname to first name during the American vogue for woodland surname-names.

It kept a small, steady presence from the eighteen-eighties, peaked around 1921, and had faded by the late twentieth century. A Norwood from the peak would be very old today; the name reads as a dignified antique surname-name rather than a current revival.

Did you know? Norwood crested around 1921, among the leafy -wood surname-names — Sherwood, Elwood, Linwood — that American families favored a century ago.
Overall data confidence 66%
References — Norwood — English place/surname 'north wood'; 1920s peak

Variations

Norwoode

Nicknames

NormWoody

Famous Bearers

  • Famous bearers coming soon.

If you like Norwood…

Sherwood— a like -wood English surname-name of the era
Elwood— another woodland -wood boy's name
Norman— a same-era Nor- surname-name
Linwood— a near-twin 'wood' place-name used as a forename

Explore names like Norwood

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Frequently Asked

What does the name Norwood mean?

Norwood is an English place-name meaning 'north wood,' from Old English for north and wood.

How do you pronounce Norwood?

It's said NOR-wood /ˈnɔr.wʊd/ — two syllables, stress on the first.

Is Norwood a boy or girl name?

Norwood is used as a boy's name.

How popular is Norwood?

Norwood was an uncommon surname-name that peaked in the early nineteen-twenties and has been rare since.

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