Find out how popular the last name Bard is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Bard.

Bard, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Bard surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bard in America

Bard is the 5809th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bard surname appeared 5,953 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 people would have the surname Bard.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bard to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Bard

The surname Bard originated in medieval France and is derived from the Old French word "bard" meaning a poet or minstrel. The name first appeared in the historical records in the 12th century and was likely initially an occupational name for a wandering poet or storyteller.

The earliest known record of the surname Bard dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, which contains the entry "Bardo" in Normandy. This suggests that the name was already in use in France before the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

In the 13th century, the name Bard was found in various regions of France, including Brittany, Normandy, and the Île-de-France. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Raoul Bard, a poet and troubadour from Brittany who lived in the late 12th and early 13th centuries.

During the Middle Ages, the Bard family established itself in several regions of France, including the provinces of Anjou, Poitou, and Touraine. In the 14th century, the name appeared in the form "Bardus" in the records of the city of Angers.

One notable bearer of the surname was Jean Bard, a French lawyer and diplomat who lived in the 15th century. He served as the ambassador of King Charles VII to the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund.

In the 16th century, the Bard family produced several notable figures, including Jean Bard, a French Protestant theologian and reformer who lived from 1534 to 1599. Another prominent individual was Pierre Bard, a French physician and botanist who lived from 1556 to 1637.

The surname Bard eventually spread beyond France to other parts of Europe and the British Isles. In England, the name was likely introduced by French Huguenot refugees fleeing religious persecution in the 16th and 17th centuries. One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name in England was William Bard, a merchant who was born in London in 1635.

Another notable English bearer of the surname was Sir John Bard, a politician and member of Parliament who lived from 1716 to 1784. He served as the Lord Mayor of London in 1767.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bard

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Bard.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Bard was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Bard has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Bard was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bard, please contact us.

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