Pickard
A surname meaning “a person from Picardy,” the old French region in northern France.
The #3,928 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 34,104 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Pickard is a regional surname ultimately referring to Picardy, the historic area of northern France. It comes from the French place-name Picard / Picardie, so the name originally meant “a Picard,” that is, someone from Picardy. Some older writers also treated it as a French ethnic name preserved in English spelling.
History
The name entered English through medieval contact with Normandy and northern France, and it appears in old records in forms such as Picard and Pickard. Later English spelling varied quite a bit, which is why the surname can be found with several related forms. It is especially familiar in England, but it also traveled to other English-speaking countries through migration.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Picardy was such a recognizable regional label that older surname books often explained Pickard simply as “a native of Picardy.”
From the historical record
“2 a contr. of Piokavance, q.v. PICKARD, V. Picard. PICKAVANCE \ (A.-Fr.) i Spur Forward! (a PICKAVANT J nickname) [f. Fr. piquer, to prick, spur ; avant, forward] Cp. William Prikeavant. — Hund. Rolls. (occ, later) 2 With a PeaIced Beard, such as was fashionable in the Shake-”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)