Harding
An old English surname that most likely began as a patronymic or nickname from the personal name Hardwin/Harding, meaning “hardy” or “brave.”
The #871 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 7,760 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Harding is generally understood as an English surname built from the old personal-name element hard, meaning “hardy,” “strong,” or “brave,” plus the -ing ending used in early Germanic names and bynames. In that tradition, it could mean “descendant of Hard” or “son of Hard/Hardwin,” rather than simply describing a hard person. Nineteenth-century surname writers also grouped it with other names such as Browning and Gooding as a type formed from shortened personal names plus -ing.
History
The name is well attested in medieval England, and it appears in early records in forms such as Harding and related bynames. Some later writers tried to connect prominent families, including the FitzHarding line of Bristol, with legendary or aristocratic origins, but those claims are not reliable as strict etymology. The surname remained widespread in England and later spread to North America and other English-speaking regions.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Bristol family once called FitzHarding inspired a lot of later storytelling, but even 19th-century antiquaries noted that the documentary evidence points to a much more ordinary urban origin.
From the historical record
“Barlng.^Bapt. Baring'; cf. Harding and Brown- ing, q. v. 'The peer and the baronet descend from John Baring, of Devonshire, 16th century, son of John Baring, minister of the Lutheran church at Bremen, ir;”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances