When William Beard was born about 1699, in Disley, Cheshire, England, United Kingdom, his father, John Bearde, was 25 and his mother, Elizabeth, was 21. He married Elizabeth Booth on 25 September 1724. They were the parents of at least 1 daughter. He died on 9 July 1755, in Aldington, Kent, England, United Kingdom, at the age of 57.
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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 1.
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’.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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