Ward is a surname of either Old English or Old Gaelic origin, common in English-speaking countries.
The Old English name derives from an occupational surname for a civil guard/keeper of the watch, or alternately as a topographical surname from the word werd ("marsh").
The Old Irish surname is linguistically unrelated, and derives from Mac an Bháird ("son of the Bard"), a bárd being a storyteller or poet.
The oldest public record of the surname dates to 1176.
[3] In the 2010 United States Census, Ward was the 79th most common surname.