Mallard
Usually an English nickname for a wild duck, with a second, less certain explanation from a Gaelic place-name meaning “high mound” or “hill.”
The #5,289 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 46,900 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Most sources treat Mallard as a nickname from the word for a wild drake or male duck. The form goes back through Middle English and Old French (malard, malart) and is ultimately linked to a Germanic word used for the male bird. A minority of 19th-century writers also suggested a local surname from Gaelic elements meaning “hill” or “high mound,” but that explanation is less secure.
History
The surname appears in English records from at least the medieval and early modern periods, and it is especially familiar as a bird-nickname surname, like Wildgoose or Thrush. Later surname dictionaries repeated the duck explanation, though a few also recorded a separate local interpretation. In modern usage it remains uncommon but steady in English-speaking countries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because the surname sounds exactly like the bird name, it became a classic example of an English nickname surname in older surname dictionaries.
From the historical record
“MALLIN " MALLARD (Fr.-Teut.) i a nickname from the Wild Drake [M.E. O.Fr. malard, malart, a wild drake] 2 the French Ma{i)llard, L.Lat. Male- hard-us, O.Ger. Madelhard = Speech- or Council- Strong [the Cont.Teut. cognate of O.'E.mce^el, speech, council, etc. + O.Sax. hard=Gotii.hardu-s=0.li.Gex.hart=0.'E,. h(e)ard…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)