An Old English surname, Ward is from the term ’weard’ which means a guard or watchman. It can also be in refers to a person who lived near a fortress. Another form is ‘werd’ which means marsh land.

A French form of Ward is Guerin.
Additional methods to spell Ward include Wards, Warde, Wardman and Wordman.

The English counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire, along with Greater London have the largest numbers of the surname Ward. In Scotland the Ward name is mostly in Lanarkshire county.

Within the United States the Ward surname appears in Illinois, Ohio, New York Texas, and Pennsylvania with the greatest numbers.

Famous: Duane Ward (professional baseball player), Bill Ward (cartoonist), Micky Ward (professional boxer), Sela Ward (actress), Mark Ward (English footballer), John Ward (19th century artist of landscapes), David S. Ward (film director) and Geoffrey Ward (historian in United States).