Goddard Family History
Goddard Name Meaning
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 .
Source: Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, 2022