Recorded in several spellings including Copard, Coppard, Copeard, and Copart, this is a surname of pre 7th century Olde English origins. It is a nickname surname, one of the fifteen percent or so which help to make up one of the largest groups of surnames. The derivation is from the word "cop", generally translating as the top of a hill, but in this case meaning "head", plus "hard", to give a literal meaning of "hard-head". By the standards of medieval nicknames this was a pretty mild label, in fact probably not offensive at all, and possibly given to a successful person. Had it been otherwise, it would almost certainly not have survived the centuries, or would have been changed in the spelling to reflect the more gentle tastes of later times. The name is particularly associated with the county of Sussex, a coat of arms being granted to the Coppard's of the county, in the 19th century. Early examples of the surname recordings include Anne Coppard, who married Daniel da Sylva, at St Pauls church, Covent Garden, London, on February 1st 1732, however the first of all recordings is that of William Copard, in the rolls of Sussex, for the year 1327. This was in the first year of the reign of King Edward 111 of England, 1327 - 1377.

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