An honest double root: sometimes the English occupational ‘watchman’, sometimes Mac an Bhaird, ‘son of the bard’, hereditary poets to the O'Donnells.
Mixed Origin · Root meaning ‘bard, poet’ or ‘watchman’
Ward is genuinely mixed: for some families it's the English occupational surname for a watchman or guard; for others it's an anglicisation of Mac an Bhaird, ‘son of the bard’ — one of Gaelic Ireland's hereditary poet families, serving the O'Donnells of Donegal and the Maguires of Fermanagh across many generations.
Two very different jobs, watching and versifying, both honoured in their own time, both still answering to the one name.
Irish form: Mac an Bhaird
