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Bard Family History

Bard Name Meaning

English (of Norman origin) and French: from the Old French personal name Bard(e) ancient Germanic Bardo from barta ‘battle axe’. This was borne as a surname by a prominent Norman family with lands in west Normandy and in various English and Scottish counties including Essex Hertfordshire North Yorkshire Northumberland and Lanarkshire. In Scotland the original family were Norman landowners in Strathaven parish in Lanarkshire. They were descended from the Baards lords of Loftus in the North Yorkshire descendants of the mid 12th-century Richard Baart. Irish: altered form of either Beard or Baird . Scottish: from Gaelic bàrd ‘poet minstrel’. See Baird . French: nickname from Old French baard ‘sedan chair; stretcher’ probably denoting the owner of such a device. French: from Old French bart (from Late Latin barrum) ‘mud clay (used as a mortar)’ probably applied as a metonymic occupational name for a bricklayer. French: habitational name from any of several minor places called Bard from the Gaulish element barro ‘height hill’.7: Hungarian (Bárd): metonymic occupational name for a butcher woodcutter or carpenter from bárd ‘hatchet cleaver’.8: Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname for someone with a luxurious beard from a blend of German Bart and Yiddish bord both meaning ‘beard’.9: Probably also an altered form of German Bart .

Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022


Similar surnames: Barr, Hard, Beard, Bara, Bird, Gard, Bark, Yard, Baird, Bar

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Where is the Bard family from?

You can see how Bard families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Bard family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Bard families were found in USA in 1880. In 1840 there were 44 Bard families living in Pennsylvania. This was about 31% of all the recorded Bard's in USA. Pennsylvania had the highest population of Bard families in 1840.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Bard surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.

What did your Bard ancestors do for a living?

In 1940, Laborer and Teacher were the top reported jobs for men and women in the USA named Bard. 18% of Bard men worked as a Laborer and 8% of Bard women worked as a Teacher. Some less common occupations for Americans named Bard were Clerk and Clerk. .

View Census Data for Bard | Data not to scale

*We display top occupations by gender to maintain their historical accuracy during times when men and women often performed different jobs.

Top Male Occupations In 1940

  • Laborer
    18%
  • Farmer
    13%
  • Salesman
    8%
  • Clerk
    4%

Top Female Occupations In 1940

  • Teacher
    8%
  • Housekeeper
    8%
  • Stenographer
    7%
  • Clerk
    7%
Black & white image of two construction labourers

What Bard family records will you find?

Census Records

There are 46,000 census records available for the last name Bard. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Bard census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.

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Passenger Lists

There are 6,000 immigration records available for the last name Bard. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the USA, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.

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Draft Cards

There are 7,000 military records available for the last name Bard. For the veterans among your Bard ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.

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What is the average Bard lifespan?

Between 1944 and 2004, in the United States, Bard life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1952, and highest in 2003. The average life expectancy for Bard in 1944 was 32, and 76 in 2004.

View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Bard

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