Harder Family History
Harder Name Meaning
English: occupational name from an agent noun derived from Middle English hardenen ‘to make hard’ (Old English heardian) denoting a hardener of metals (used by Chaucer) and elsewhere a baker who hardened dough with heat. North German and Danish: from the ancient Germanic personal name Harther composed of the elements hard ‘strong hard’+ heri ‘army’. South German: topographic name from Middle High German hart ‘woodland used as pasture’ or a habitational name for someone from any of the places called with this word. Dutch: vowel variant of Herder an occupational name for a shepherd.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022