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
Mac and Mc together A 2007 book in its tenth edition states that "most library catalogs" sort Mac and Mc names as if spelled M-a-c. Among the guides which generally recommend separating Mac and Mc so that names will be sorted as they are spelled are ISO 999, The Chicago Manual of Style, "Butcher's Copy-editing: The Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Copy-editors and Proofreaders", "The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage", and "The SBL Handbook of Style". Mac and Mc together A convention of sorting names with the Scottish and Irish patronymic prefixes Mac and Mc together persists in library science and archival