In our family, it comes from the area just west of London, England. I have the family Bible of my grandfather (several 'greats' in there). He was one of the butchers and it was his job to keep the bulls calm and especially to prevent them from realizing they were being slaughtered. There are two records of the bulls realizing what was up and kind of a bull-panic ensued. When commoners started getting surnames, they referred to John as 'John T Bullherder.' No one seems to know how it became Bullard, it just switched in the late 1700s.There are two other families of Bullards I have encountered.One claims to be descended from a 'retired priest' who had a family. I'll take the guy at his word: he says that a 'bol' is the bald spot that friars shave atop their heads. He goes on to explain that 'ard' means the same as 'Mc' or '-son'... the child of. Hence Bolard was the son of a friar. I have seldom heard of priests retiring to have families, although it certainly must happen...The other is certain his family were Irish and that a 'Bulle' was someone who wrote for a living - either as a scribe or book-writer. His family did publish several books under the names Bullerd and Bullard, so I believe in the accuracy of this one...
There are two other families of Bullards I have encountered.
One claims to be descended from a 'retired priest' who had a family. I'll take the guy at his word: he says that a 'bol' is the bald spot that friars shave atop their heads. He goes on to explain that 'ard' means the same as 'Mc' or '-son'... the child of. Hence Bolard was the son of a friar. I have seldom heard of priests retiring to have families, although it certainly must happen...
The other is certain his family were Irish and that a 'Bulle' was someone who wrote for a living - either as a scribe or book-writer. His family did publish several books under the names Bullerd and Bullard, so I believe in the accuracy of this one...