Diminutive of Woodrow or a nickname meaning 'from the woods or forest.'
Woody occupies a rare category among nicknames: one that has so thoroughly outgrown its origins that it now stands comfortably as a full name in its own right. It originated primarily as a diminutive of Woodrow — itself an English place-name surname from wudu (wood) and row (row of houses or trees), meaning a lane or street lined with trees — and to a lesser extent of Woodward, meaning a forest guardian. The name entered presidential territory with Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924), the 28th President of the United States, whose administration shaped the League of Nations and whose austere, professorial bearing lent the full name Woodrow a certain gravitas that Woody, its familiar twin, decidedly subverted.
It was through American popular culture that Woody truly found its character. Woody Guthrie (1912–1967), the Oklahoma-born folk singer and songwriter, distilled the name's earthy, democratic spirit perfectly — his "This Land Is Your Land" becoming arguably the most democratic song in American popular music. Woody Herman (1913–1987) led one of the great jazz big bands of the swing era, while Woody Allen (born 1935) attached the name to a particular strain of urban neurotic wit.
In the realm of cinema, the animated cowboy Woody Pride in Pixar's Toy Story franchise (1995–present) gave the name an entirely new generation of recognition, making it simultaneously retro and perennially fresh. Woody carries a particular American informality: it is a handshake name, a porch name, a name that suggests competence without pretension. It has the rare quality of feeling equally at home on a Depression-era folksinger, a jazz bandleader, a filmmaker, and a child's toy — a breadth of register that speaks to its fundamental warmth. Today it is chosen both as a standalone name and as the registered name of children who will spend their entire lives as Woody regardless of what their birth certificates say.