Barnard Family Crest, Coat of Arms & Barnard Name Origin

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Origin of the Name Barnard

The ancient history of the name Barnard was found in the allfamilycrests.com archives. Meaning 'the son of Bernard', Barnard is a baptismal name brought to England by the Normans and immediately following the conquest became very popular by virtue of being borne by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, 1090-1153, founder and Abbot of the Cistercian Monastery at Clairvaux. Variants of the name include Bernard, Bernadine, Barnett, Barnet, Barnane and Benard. This name is of Anglo-Norman descent spreading to Ireland, Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts in the above countries. Examples of such are a William filius Bernardi who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls', England, in the year 1273 and an Abel Bernarde, County Oxfordshire, who was registered in the University of Oxford, in the year 1581. In Ireland the Irish philanthropist Doctor Thomas Barnardo, 1845-1905, founded the orphanages that still bear his name. The County Cork O'Bearnain sept anglicized their name to Bernard and Barnard as well as Barnane.