where does the last name howard come from
Howard (surname) Howard is a common English language surname. Its origins are unclear. One theory is that it derived from the Norman-French personal name "Huard" or "Heward" adapting after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Another theory is that its origin may be pre 7th century Germanic from the personal name "Hughard" (prefix hug, meaning "heart"/"spirit"; suffix hard, meaning "hardy"/"brave"). Yet another theory is that the surname derived from the Anglo-Scandinavian personal name "Haward" (prefix ha, meaning "high"; suffix varthr, meaning "guardian"). The first public record of the surname is dated 1221 in Cambridgeshire. There are several variant surname spellings.[1]