This interesting surname is a topographic name generally originating in the Parish of Mapton-on-the-Hill, Warwickshire. Some people of this name derive their name from Woodfield near Annan, Dumfriesshire Scotland, where it goes back to the 14th Century (see below). In the earliest Warwickshire Parish registers the name appears as Woodhull from the pre 7th Century Old English "wudu" meaning a wood, and "hyll" meaning a hill. The change to Woodfield was well established by 1620. It is also found under such variant forms as Woodfielde, Woodfields and Woodfeild. One of the earliest records of the name was in Kent church registers: one Henrie Woodfeild married Luce Clarke at All Saints' Church, Maidstone, on June 18th 1588. The name is chiefly associated with Warwickshire where an early registration of the name was that of Alice, daughter of Thomas and Mary Woodfield, christened at Alverston on June 12th 1696. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Roger Wodyfelde, which was dated 1365, Register of the Great Seal of Scotland, during the reign of King David 11 of Scotland, 1329 - 1371. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.