This most interesting surname derives from a pet form of "Hu(gh)e", an Old French personal name introduced into England by the Normans after the Conquest of 1066, and composed of the Germanic element "hug", heart, mind, spirit, plus the French pejorative ending "-ard", which was usually a derogatory term added to a given name to form a surname. Alternatively the name may have originated from the Old French personal name "Huard" (itself from the Old Germanic "Hugihard") meaning heart-brave. The personal name from the latter source is recorded as "Huardus, Houart" in the Domesday Book of 1086. The surname itself first appears in the mid 16th Century (see below). One Miles Huggarde or Hoggarde (circa 1557) wrote poems and other materials against the Reformation and other controversial works in prose and verse. The earliest recording of the name in London Church Registers is on November 4th 1623, when one Thomas Huggard married Mary Woodhouse at St. Dunstan's Church, Stepney. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Huggard, which was dated 1535, in the "Calendar of Lincolnshire Wills", during the reign of King Henry V111, known as "Good King Hal", 1509 - 1547. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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