Family name origins & meanings
- English : from Middle English god dai ‘good day’, possibly applied as a nickname for someone who frequently used this greeting.
- English : from a Middle English female personal name Godeve, Old English Gōdgifu, composed of the elements gōd ‘good’ or god ‘god’ + gifu ‘gift’. This name has perhaps absorbed a less common name with the second element gūð ‘battle’.
- English : nickname for a widow or an independent woman, from Middle English goodwife ‘mistress of a house’, from Old English gōd ‘good’ + wīf ‘woman’. Compare Goodman 1.