Byrd (surname)


Byrd is a surname of Anglo-Saxon origin. It is a variant spelling of the English word "bird," which is derived from the Old English pre-7th Century word "bridde". Another common variant of this surname is "Bird."
common to the region

Origin and variants

Byrd is a metonymic occupational or descriptive name that was originally used for a person who worked as a bird catcher, or someone who had bird-like characteristics. A part of the ancient legacy of the Anglo-Saxon tribes in Britain, the surname Byrd was first found in Cheshire at Broxton, a village and civil parish in North West England where it has been present since long before the Norman Conquest in 1066. The surname was first recorded in Essex towards the end of the 12th Century as "Le Brid."
Until the gradual standardization of English spelling in the last few centuries, English lacked any comprehensive system of spelling. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents, meaning that a person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. As such, different variations of the Byrd surname usually have the same origin.

Notable people with the surname