The Bard surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 5,953 people carried this name — #5,809 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 49,500 people counted. That is down 8% from 6,470 in 2000.
Where the name comes from
The origin of the Bard surname
Multiple origins.
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Bard» (French), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 2,459 people named Bard.
31 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 80 départements, most often Puy-de-Dôme.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
228 people named Bard live in Switzerland.
They live in 8 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Fribourg.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 143 people named Bard live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In the Nordic population registers
491 people named Bard is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Bard in American newspapers,
1913.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 945,326 pages in all carry the name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Bard.
- Barbu 385 · U.S. census
- Barby 198 · U.S. census
- Barc 138 · U.S. census
- Barcelo 1,940 · U.S. census
- Barclay 11,568 · U.S. census
- Barco 2,385 · U.S. census
- Barda 190 · U.S. census
- Barde 197 · U.S. census
- Bardelli 205 · U.S. census
- Bardes 224 · U.S. census
- Bardi 350 · U.S. census
- Bardin 1,911 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Bard is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.