View Message

Well, perhaps in some instances it could also be a variant form of Tad (short form of Thaddeus) or Ted (short form of Theodore). :) Especially since the pronunciation of Tod(d) and Tad can be very close in some areas.

Usually Todd and Tod are transfers from the surname Todd (meaning "fox", as Anneza said) and are not short forms of a longer name.

As well as a name, it's a dictionary word, meaning a fox, so it came to be used as a surname in the same way that Fox did. Then like some surnames it came into use as a given name.

---

There is what looks like a longer version of the surname: Todhunter. But it just means what it says - someone who hunted foxes. The Tod- component came first, in other words.