Ward (surname) Ward (surname) Ward is a popular Old English origin and Old Gaelic origin surname dating to before the Norman conquest of 1066 and Ireland, common in English-speaking countries. The Old English name derives from an occupational surname for a civil guard/keeper of the watch, or alternately as a topographical surname from the word "werd" ("marsh"). The Old Gaelic surname derives from "Mac an Bhaird" ("son of the Bard"), a bard being a storyteller or poet. The two names are completely unrelated ethnically one being Germanic and the other Celtic. The oldest public record of the surname dates to 1176. In
Holmes (surname) Holmes (surname) Holmes is an English-language surname with several origins. The name can be a variant of the surname "Holme". This surname has several etymological origins: it can be derived from a name for someone who lived next to a holly tree, from the Middle English "holm"; it can also be derived from the Old English "holm" and Old Norse "holmr". Another origin of Holmes is from a placename near Dundonald, or else a place located in the barony of Inchestuir. The surname is also sometimes an Anglicised form of the Gaelic "Mac Thomáis"; similarly, "Holmes" can also be a