Gaillard Family History
Gaillard Surname Meaning
French: nickname from gaillard ‘vigorous strong’ (ultimately from Celtic galia ‘strength’). This surname (in any of the two possible senses; see also below) is also found in Haiti.
French: from the ancient Germanic personal name Gailhard composed of the elements gail ‘powerful lusty cheerful’ + hard ‘hard strong’.
English (of Norman and French Huguenot origin): cognate of 1 and 2 above Anglicized as Gaylard and Gaylord.
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022
