At a Glance
- Meaning
- Waddi's enclosure (an Old English personal name + worth, 'enclosure, homestead')
- Origin
- English (surname/place name, variant of Wadsworth)
- Gender
- Unisex
- Pronunciation
- WERDZ-werth
Wordsworth is an English (surname/place name, variant of Wadsworth) unisex name meaning “Waddi's enclosure (an Old English personal name + worth, 'enclosure, homestead')”. It appears in our list of Autumn Baby Names for a Fall-Born Little One.
Meaning & Origin of Wordsworth
Meaning: Waddi's enclosure (an Old English personal name + worth, 'enclosure, homestead').
Origin: English (surname/place name, variant of Wadsworth).
A common claim: Often glossed on baby-name lists as 'Wulfward's estate' (i.e., a 'guardian wolf' name). Actually: This is a folk etymology. Wordsworth actually derives from Wadsworth — the Old English personal name Waddi plus worth ('enclosure') — not from a name 'Wulfward.'
Source: Wiktionary.
How to Pronounce Wordsworth
WERDZ-werthIPA /ˈwɜːrdzwərθ/
Popularity of Wordsworth
Wordsworth doesn’t appear in U.S. Social Security birth records, which include every name given to at least five babies in a year — so it’s rare in the U.S.
Lists That Include Wordsworth
Similar Names
Elinor · Shelley · Marianne · Byron · Dorothea · Tennyson
