Ward
Mac an Bhaird · son of the bard
Ward is Mac an Bhaird in Irish, said mak un WARD, and means son of the bard.
Hereditary poets to the O’Donnells and the O’Kellys, and the name says so: the son of the bard. Ward in English is a coincidence of sound, not a translation.
How it changes
- A man: Mac an Bhaird
- His daughter: Nic an Bhaird
- A woman who married into it: Bean Mhic an Bhaird
- The family together: Mhic an Bhaird
Where it comes from
Donegal and Galway
Also spelt
Ward, MacWard, Macaward
A name, not a pedigree
This is where the name came from, which is not the same as where you came from. Names were translated, anglicised, taken on by tenants and neighbours, and carried in by settlers who were no relation to the family that started them. To follow your own line, the 1901 and 1911 censuses are free and searchable, and give the county each person was born in.