indicate the level to which a name has been verified.
Type Surname (from given name)
Usage English
Meaning & History
From the Old English given name Hereweard, composed of the elements here "army" and weard "guard", which was borne by an 11th-century thane of Lincolnshire, leader of resistance to the advancing Normans. The Old Norse cognate Hervarðr was also common and, particularly in the Danelaw, it may in part lie behind the surname.