Origin of Avard

This name, with variant spellings Avered, Averett, Averd etc., derives from Aufrede, a French pronounced form of the personal name Alfred, itself coming from the Anglo-Saxon Aelfraed, a compound of "aelf", an elf, plus "raed", counsel. The popularity of this given name in England was chiefly due to the fame of the West Saxon King Alfred the great (849-899), who defeated the Danes, keeping them out of Wessex. Variant French diminutive forms i.e. Auveray, Auure, Averay etc. appear on record in the 1275, Hundred Rolls of Nottinghamshire and Worcestershire.

These forms result from the medieval habit of writing the letter "f" as a "v" or "u". On January 14th 1609, John Averd an infant, was christened in Rottingdean, Sussex, and on October 29th 1634, Dina Avard was christened in Ticehurst, Sussex. 18th Century entries in London church registers show that Avard was reintroduced as a French Huguenot name at that time. On January 7th 1711 Elie Avard, an infant, was christened in La Patente French Huguenot Church, Spitalfields, London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Edmund Avered, which was dated 1279, "The Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire", during the reign of King Edward 1, "The Hammer of The Scots", 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.