Word
An English surname that likely began as a nickname or descriptive byname from the everyday word “word,” though its exact origin is not firmly established.
The #5,628 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 49,983 Americans shares it.
Etymology
This surname is most plausibly connected with the English word word, from Old English word, meaning “word, speech, message.” As a surname, it may have started as a nickname, a label for someone known for speech, promises, or messages, rather than as a hereditary family name from the start. The historical evidence is thin, so the name’s precise motivation is not certain.
History
The available 19th- and early-20th-century surname dictionaries mention Word only in passing and do not give a firm derivation. The name is uncommon but plainly established in English-speaking countries, and it appears in modern US records in modest numbers. Because the documentary trail is sparse, its early development remains somewhat obscure.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
It is one of those surnames that is ordinary as a common noun but unusual as a family name, which often makes it memorable in records and directories.
From the historical record
“The Anglo-Saxons had three words denoting 'surname' or 'cog- norhen': cti^nama, literally familiar name';/r^'o««ma:, lit. free name'; and td-nama, lit. 'additional name.' The Norsemen used the word kenningar-nafn, from the genit. sing., kenntngar, of kenning, mark of recognition'. The present-day Dano-Norwegian…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)