The name Caywoyd has a long
Anglo-Saxon heritage. The name comes from when a 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 Caywoyd family
The surname Caywoyd 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]CITATION[CLOSE]
Mills, A.D., Dictionary of English Place-Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. Print. (ISBN 0-19-869156-4) 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 Caywoyd family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Caywoyd research.
Another 131 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1514 and 1572 are included under the topic Early Caywoyd History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Caywoyd Spelling Variations
Spelling variations in names were a common occurrence before English spelling was standardized a few
hundred years ago. In the Middle Ages, even the literate spelled their names differently as the English language incorporated elements of French, Latin, and other European languages. Many variations of the name Caywoyd have been found, including Cawood, Kawood, Cawoode, Cawod and others.
Early Notables of the Caywoyd family (pre 1700)
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Caywoyd Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Migration of the Caywoyd family to the New World and Oceana
Families began migrating abroad in enormous numbers because of the political and religious discontent in
England. Often faced with persecution and starvation in
England, the possibilities of the New World attracted many English people. Although the ocean trips took many lives, those who did get to North America were instrumental in building the necessary groundwork for what would become for new powerful nations. Some of the first immigrants to cross the Atlantic and come to North America bore the name Caywoyd, 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.