Meaning of Last Name

Origins: England, Ireland

Ward is a popular Old English origin and Old Gaelic origin surname dating to before the Norman conquest of 1066. The Old English name derives from an occupational surname for a civil guard/keeper of the watch, or alternately as a topographical surname from the word "werd" ("marsh"). The Old Gaellic surname derives from "Mac an Bhaird" ("son of the Bard"). The two names are completely unrelated ethnically one being Germanic and the other Celtic. The oldest public record of the surname dates to 1176. People with the surname include: