Goddard Family History

English (of Norman origin): from Godhard, a personal name composed of the ancient Germanic elements gōd ‘good’ or god, got ‘god’ + hard ‘hardy, brave, strong’. The name was popular in Europe during the Middle Ages as a result of the fame of Saint Gotthard, an 11th-century bishop of Hildesheim who founded a hospice on the pass from Switzerland to Italy that bears his name.

This surname is also borne by Ashkenazic Jews, presumably as an Americanized form of one or more similar (like-sounding) Jewish surnames. English: perhaps occasionally a variant of the occupational name Gothard.

The two surnames may have been much confused. French: variant of Godard, a cognate of 1 above. Altered form of French Gaudet.