Goddard
An old English surname from a medieval personal name meaning roughly “God-strong” or “God’s strength.”
The #2,335 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 19,793 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Goddard comes from an old Germanic personal name, usually explained as made from elements meaning “God” plus “hard/strong.” In English records this appears in forms such as Godard, Godart, and Godhard, and it was later inherited as a surname. Some 19th-century writers also connected it with related continental forms like Gotthard and Godhart.
History
The name is recorded in medieval England as a personal name and then as a hereditary surname. Lower noted Goddard as a personal name in Domesday Book, and Bardsley gives medieval spellings in Norfolk, Cambridge, and Yorkshire. The surname became well established in England, especially in southern counties such as Wiltshire, and later spread more widely through Britain and overseas.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Bardsley and Lower both treat Goddard as part of a wider family of ancient Teutonic names, not as a nickname from the modern word “god.”
From the historical record
“name. GODDARD. Godanlus appears in Domesd. as a personal name. The ancestor of the Goddards of Cliffe and Swindon are said to have been seated in "Wiltshire before temp. Rich. II. B.L.G. GODDEN. Often a corruption of God- win. GODDIN. GODDING”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United KingdomNotable people named Goddard
- Robert H. Goddard (1882–1945)
- Paulette Goddard (1910–1990)
Sourced from Wikidata; linked to their Wikipedia page.