The surname, Attwood is derived from a locative medieval bye-name, i.e. originating from a place name, such as -hill, -ford, -brook -well and of course -wood. The name would therefore appear to mean, 'dweller at or near a wood'. The Oxford Dictionary of English Surnames (Oxford University Press, 1997) gives the following definition: 'Attwood, Atwood: Attewode 1243...Robert Atwode 1457...'Dweller by the wood' OE wudu.' The name is made up of the most common preposition at, (Old English ǽt) which coalesced with the definite article the, to form the obsolete preposition atte, (Middle English) together with the Old English wudu, wiodu, wudu, wude, wode, wodd, woode, uud etc. (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989 Clarendon Press). The surname Atte Wode may be transcribed as de Bois (or de Boys) or de Bosco. There is therefore scope for further variation resulting from abbreviation, misspelling or an imprecise understanding of the language by the scribe, e.g. Joh Boys, 1357 (quoted in Nash's Worcestershire, 1799) and the Abbot of Evesham Abbey. William de Boys, 1345-1367.From: 'Houses of Benedictine monks: Abbey of Evesham', A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 2 (1971), pp. 112-27.