Woodiwiss Family History

English (mainly Derbyshire and Yorkshire): nickname from Middle English wodewose wodewese (Old English wudewāse) ‘wild man of the woods’. This word was also used to denote a person dressed to represent such a being in a play or pageant. Wodewoses (male and female) were mythical creatures of English and ancient Germanic folklore akin to the fauns and satyrs of Classical mythology. The surname may also have been acquired by someone who lived and worked in the woods or perhaps by an unusually hairy man.