Moody (surname)

Moody is an English surname. It ranks in the top 200 most common surnames in English speaking nations. The earliest known example dates from the 12th century in a Devonshire early English charter where the name Alwine 'Modig' is mentioned. Recent census research suggests that the surname has been most consistently populous in Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire and also in areas of northeast England. There is also a high incidence of the similar-sounding surname 'Moodie' in Scotland, in particular Orkney, although this variant, ending "ie", has possible Norse/Celtic origins. The surname Moody was also carried to areas of Ireland settled by the early English. Although the most intensive areas of occurrence match areas of dense Anglo-Saxon habitation after 1066, it is difficult to determine if the name is Anglo-Saxon or Nordic/Viking in origin, since all Germanic countries used the word 'Modig' or 'Mutig' to indicate someone who was bold, impetuous or brave. Surnames were increasingly given through the early Middle Ages to assist taxation and an increasing incidence of the name can be followed in such documents as the Hundred Rolls, early English charters and general medieval assizes associated with such actions as baronial struggles, Crusades or Angevin campaigns in France. In the Netherlands, there is a family name 'Mudde' derived from a Scottish immigrant Robert Moodie.

There was a significant incidence of the name among early American immigrants from England in the 17th century.

Some notable bearers of the Moody surname include:

Politics and government

• Arthur Moody (1891–1976), British politician
• Bill Moody (judge), American judge
• Blair Moody (1902–1954), American politician
• Blair Moody, Jr. (1928–1982), American judge, Served on Michigan's Supreme as a Justice.
• Charles Moody (MP) (1792–1867), British politician
• Dan Moody (1893–1966), American politician
• David Moody (politician), South Australian politician
• George Moody (born 1942), Canadian politician
• Gideon C. Moody (1832–1904), American politician
• James M. Moody (1858–1901), American politician
• James Maxwell Moody (born 1940), American judge
• James Moody (loyalist) (c. 1744 – 1809), Canadian politician
• James S. Moody, Jr. (born 1947), American judge
• James Tyne Moody (born 1938), American judge
• Jim Moody (1935–2019), American politician
• John M. Moody (died 1884), American politician
• Malcolm A. Moody (1854–1925), American politician
• Richard Moody (1813–1887), first Lieutenant-Governor of the Colony of British Columbia
• Thomas Moody (British Army officer) (1779–1849), British expert aide-de-camp to the British Colonial Office, geopolitical theorist
• Tom Moody (politician) (1930–2008), American politician
• William Henry Moody (1853–1917), American politician and jurist
• Zenas Ferry Moody (1832–1917), American politician

Arts

• Ben Moody (born 1981), American musician and songwriter
• Charles E. Moody (1891–1977), American gospel songwriter and performer
• Clyde Moody (1915–1989), American musician
• Dave Moody (musician) (born 1962), American musician
• David Moody (writer) (born 1970), English writer
• Elizabeth Moody (actor) (1939–2010), New Zealand actress and director
• Elizabeth Moody (1737–1814), British poet and literary critic
• Ivan Moody (born 1980), American singer
• Ivan Moody (1964–2024), British composer
• James Moody (composer) (1907–1995), Irish musician
• James Moody (saxophonist) (1925–2010), American jazz musician
• Jim Moody (actor) (born 1949), American actor
• King Moody (1929–2001), American actor
• Laurence Moody (born c1954), English television director
• Lynne Moody (born 1950), American actress
• Micky Moody (born 1950), English guitarist
• Ralph Moody (author) (1898–1982), American author
• Rick Moody (born 1961), American author
• Ron Moody (1924–2015), English actor
• Ronald Moody (1900–1984), British sculptor
• Ruth Moody, Canadian musician
• Spencer Moody, American singer
• Susan Moody (born 1940), English novelist
• Tom Moody (artist), American visual artist
• William Vaughn Moody (1869–1910), American dramatist and poet

Sports

• Andrea Moody (born 1978), Canadian swimmer
• Bailey Moody (born 2001), American wheelchair basketball player
• Chris Moody (born 1953), English golfer
• Christian Moody (born 1983), American basketball player
• Emmanuel Moody (born 1987), American football running back
• Eric Moody (baseball) (born 1971), American baseball pitcher
• Frank Moody (1900–1963), Welsh boxer
• Glenn Moody (born 1964), English darts player
• Harold Moody (athlete) (1915-1986), British shot putter
• Heather Moody (born 1973), American water polo player
• Helen Wills Moody (1905–1998), American tennis player
• Jake Moody (born 1999), American football player
• Jaylen Moody (born 1998), American football player
• Joe Moody (rugby union) All Black Rugby player
• John Moody (badminton), New Zealand badminton player
• John Moody (footballer) (1904–1963), English footballer
• Keith Moody (born 1953), American football defensive back
• Lewis Moody (born 1978), English rugby player
• Matthew Moody (born 1985), Australian rules footballer
• Mick Moody (born 1960), Irish footballer
• Orville Moody (1933–2008), American golfer
• Patricia Moody (born 1934), British canoeist
• Paul Moody (footballer) (born 1967), English footballer
• Ralph Moody (1917–2004), American racecar driver and owner
• Rick Moody (coach), American basketball coach
• Tera Moody (born 1980), American runner
• Toby Moody, British motorsport announcer
• Tom Moody (born 1965), Australian cricketer and coach
• William Moody (Paul Bearer) (1954–2013), American professional wrestler and wrestling manager

Academics

• Ernest Addison Moody (1903–1975), American philosopher
• Ethel Isabel Moody (1905–1941), American mathematician
• Lewis Ferry Moody (1880–1953), American engineer and professor
• Nancy B. Moody, American college president
• Paul Dwight Moody (1879–1947), American college president
• Robert Moody (born 1941), Canadian mathematician
• Theodore William Moody (1907–1984), Irish historian

Business

• John Moody (financial analyst) (1868–1958), American financial analyst
• Maxey Dell Moody (1883–1949), American businessman
• Maxey Dell Moody Jr. (1913–1987), American businessman
• Maxey Dell Moody III (1944 - ), American businessman
• Sewell Moody (1834–1875), Canadian businessman
• Shearn Moody, Jr. (1933–1996), American financier
• William Lewis Moody, Jr. (1865–1954), American financier

Other

• Alexander Moody Stuart (1809–1898), Scottish minister
• Anne Moody (1940–2015), American author and civil rights activist
• Charles Amadon Moody (?-1910), American author and book reviewer
• Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899), American evangelist and publisher
• Glyn Moody, technology writer
• Harold Moody (physician) (1882–1947), British doctor
• James Bradfield Moody (born 1976), Australian engineer
• James Paul Moody (1887–1912), British sailor and only junior officer to die in the Titanic disaster
• Jimmy Moody (died 1993), English mobster
• John Moody (journalist), American journalist
• Juanita Moody (1924–2015), American cryptographer
• Ludlow Moody (1892–1981), Jamaican doctor
• Mary Blair Moody (1837–1919), American physician
• Maryon Pearson née Moody (1902–1991), wife of Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson
• Paul Moody (inventor) (1779–1831), American inventor
• Raymond Moody (born 1944), American parapsychologist
• Slomon Moody (1834-1898), American physician
• Eric Henry Moody, Captain, BA Flight 009 saviour

Fictional

• Mad-Eye Moody, a character in the Harry Potter books
• Hank Moody, a character from the television series Californication
• Joss Moody, the main character in Trumpet by Jackie Kay
• Judy Moody, the main character of a book series by Megan McDonald