Millard
Usually a French or English surname linked to Mill or Millward-type forms, with the ending -ard adding a French-style surname shape.
The #2,805 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 24,040 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The name is commonly explained as a modified form of Millward, an occupational surname for someone connected with a mill. Some sources also treat it as a French-shaped surname built from mille/mill plus the suffix -ard, though that analysis may reflect later spelling development rather than a single clear origin. In short, Millard most likely began as a mill-related occupational name, then took on a form that looks partly French.
History
English records show Millard as a later spelling or reshaped form alongside Millward, especially in London. French surname books also list Millard as a surname form derived from Emil/Émile in some cases, but that is a different explanation and may not apply universally. The surname is well established in both England and French-speaking contexts, and it later spread widely in the Anglophone world.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some 19th-century surname scholars treated Millard as a modified form of Millward rather than a completely separate name.
From the historical record
“MILLAR for Millen, q.v. MILLARD (Fr.) Jhe French Mille (v. Mill (Fr.) + the dim. suff. -ard [Teut. hard] (Eng.) an assim. form of Mil I ward, q.v. MILLBANK (Ens;.) Dweller at the Mill-Bank [v. under Mill and Bank] M|LLBOURN(E (Eng.) Dweller at the Mill- Stream [O.E. myl{e)n + bume]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)