Given name & surname
Bard
“a minstrel; a poet”
Bard is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “a minstrel; a poet.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “a minstrel; a poet.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1920. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Bard through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 218
- 218 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1970
- 13 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1979. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 13 in 1970. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 276 as a first name in 2020; 5,731 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Bard’s family of names
Bard has a related form in Bardo. Bard has a related form in Barde.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Bard, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Ted
“a gift from God” · “having heart”
>99% boys
Lanny
“from the renowned land”
>99% boys
Baird
“a minstrel; a poet”
>99% boys
Nigel
“the champion”
>99% boys
Fedrick
Fedrick is a form of Cedric. One Welsh interpretation is “one who is kind and loved; of the spectacular bounty.”
>99% boys
Horton
“from the gray town”
>99% boys
Orlondo
“from the renowned land”
>99% boys
Šekspīrs
Šekspīrs is a surname from English. It is used in Latvian.
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