Family name origins & meanings
- Irish and French : originally English, from an Old English personal name, Wudlāc, composed of the elements wudu ‘wood’ + lāc ‘play’, ‘sport’.
- The name Woodlock or Wodelock was taken to Ireland as early as 1172 by the brothers Torsten and Reginaldus Utlag, the sons of a Wiltshire, England, landowner named Wudulach. Their descendants held large estates in Tipperary and Co. Dublin until, in the 18th century, they suffered greatly from the restrictions placed on Catholics, and several members of the family emigrated to France and Spain, and in the 19th century to Canada, the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand.