Caywood History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

The ancestors of the name Caywood date back to the Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Caywood family lived in Yorkshire, where the name was taken from the town of Cawood in the county's West Riding. The place-name was first recorded as Kawuda in 963 AD and was originally derived from the Old English words ca, meaning jackdaw, and wudu meaning woods, and described a wood where by jackdaws were common.

Early Origins of the Caywood family

The surname Caywood was first found in North Yorkshire, where Cawood is a large village and civil parish in the Selby district. The village dates back to 963 when it was listed as Kawuda. 1 and was given by King Athelstan to the see of York, about 935, in the time of Archbishop Wulstan. Today it is better known as the place where the Cawood sword was found. It is regarded as "one of the finest Viking swords ever discovered" and is nearly 1,000 years old and can be seen at the Yorkshire Museum. This locale is also the home of Cawood Castle, a palace for the Archbishops of York which dates back to 1181. Today Cawood Castle is owned by the Landmark Trust.

Early History of the Caywood family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Caywood research. Another 66 words (5 lines of text) covering the years 1514 and 1572 are included under the topic Early Caywood History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Caywood Spelling Variations

It is only in the last few hundred years that the English language has been standardized. For that reason, early Anglo-Saxon surnames like Caywood are characterized by many spelling variations. As the English language changed and incorporated elements of other European languages, even literate people changed the spelling of their names. The variations of the name Caywood include: Cawood, Kawood, Cawoode, Cawod and others.

Early Notables of the Caywood family

Another 33 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Caywood Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Caywood Ranking

In the United States, the name Caywood is the 12,875^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 2

Migration of the Caywood family

Many English families tired of political and religious strife left Britain for the new colonies in North America. Although the trip itself offered no relief - conditions on the ships were extremely cramped, and many travelers arrived diseased, starving, and destitute - these immigrants believed the opportunities that awaited them were worth the risks. Once in the colonies, many of the families did indeed prosper and, in turn, made significant contributions to the culture and economies of the growing colonies. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families has revealed a number of immigrants bearing the name Caywood or a variant listed above: Richard Cawood who arrived in Barbados in 1635; and later moved to St. Christopher; Ann Cawood who settled in Maryland in 1676.

Contemporary Notables of the name Caywood (post 1700) +

Lindsay P. Caywood Jr., American geomagnetist at Camp Sky-Hi in the summer of 1961-1962, eponym of Mount Caywood, Antarctica
Betty Caywood, American sportscaster, one of the first female Major League Baseball broadcasters
Keith E. Caywood, American 14th head football coach for Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas (1955-1966)
Lester Leroy "Wimpy" Caywood (b. 1903), American professional NFL football player who played from 1926 to 1934
Alfred Beebe Caywood (1910-1991), American-born, Canadian aviator, inductee into Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame (1988)

Citations +

Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4)
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/