Beard Family History
Beard Name Meaning
English:: nickname for a bearded man (from Middle English berd Old English beard). To be clean-shaven was the norm in non-Jewish communities in northwestern Europe from the 12th to the 16th century the crucial period for surname formation. There is a placename and other evidence to show that this word was used as a byname in the Old English period when beards were the norm; in this period the byname would have referred to a large or noticeable beard. In North America this surname has absorbed cognates and equivalents in other languages in particular German Barth habitational name from a place called Beard in Derbyshire (now represented by Beard Hall and Beardwood Farms in New Mills parish) which derives its name by dissimilation from Old English brerd ‘rim bank’.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
