Underwood is a surname of English topographic origin. History Deriving from the Old English "under" a preposition meaning "under" or "below", plus "wuda", a wood. The name was originally given to one dwelling at the foot of a wood or literally "below the trees of a forest". The name may also be locational from three places named with these elements i.e., Underwood in Derbyshire, England, Underwood, Nottinghamshire, England. The surname is first recorded in the latter half of the 12th Century (see below). One William Underwude appears in the 1219 Assize Court Rolls of Yorkshire, and a William under the Wode in the 1332 Subsidy Rolls of Staffordshire. From the beginning of the surviving parish registers in 1559 there were Underwoods recorded in Pickering parish, North Yorkshire, England. On 2 January 1634, one Joseph Underwood, aged 23 yrs., embarked from London on the ship "Bonaventure" bound for Virginia. He was one of the earliest recorded name bearers to enter America. No less than seven Coats of Arms were granted to families of this name; a particular namebearer mentioned in the Dictionary of National Biography was one Michael Underwood (1737–1820), who practised in London as a surgeon and as a "male-midwife". The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of William de Underwode which was dated 1188, in the "Records of Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk", during the reign of King Henry II, known as "The Builder of Churches", 1154 – 1189. People Surname General Adin Ballou Underwood (1828–1888), American general Antony Underwood, Australian scientist April Underwood, tech investor Barbara Underwood (born 1944), American lawyer Cecil F. Underwood (1867–1943), British scientific collector Cecilia Underwood, 1st Duchess of Inverness (c. 1785 – 1873), British peer Edmund Underwood (182?–1863), U.S. Army officer 1848–1863 Edmund Beardsley Underwood (1853–1928), American naval officer, son of Edmund Underwood Elizabeth Underwood (c. 1794 – 1858), Australian land owner Eric Underwood (1905–1980), Australian scientist Francis Henry Underwood (1825–1894), American biographer and diplomat George V. Underwood Jr. (1913–1984), American army general Gordon Waite Underwood (1932–1978), American naval officer Grant Underwood (born 1954), American Mormon historian Horace Grant Underwood (1859–1916), American missionary and founder of Yonsei University in Korea James Underwood (1771–1844) Australian merchant James Underwood (born 1942), British pathologist Jim Underwood, American management professor John Underwood (PR adviser), British public relation adviser John Thomas Underwood (1857–1937), founder of the Underwood Typewriter Company Joseph Edwin Underwood (1882–1960),