This interesting surname is an Anglo-French metonymic occupational name for a high official in the retinue of a royal or noble household. The surname is equally recorded in many spellings forms in both countries. The official position of 'Larder' or 'Lardier' was a situation of very considerable trust, granted only to the most respected of retainers, and being second only to 'The Steward',the head of the household. The word originally described "a tub to keep bacon in" and is from the Roman/Latin word "Lardarium" meaning bacon. The surname first appears in English 12th Century rolls (see below) and includes examples such as Peter de Larder in the 1173 Pipe Rolls of Hampshire, and Thomas del Larder in the 1304 Calendar of the Close Rolls of London. Other examples are those of William de Larder in the Patent Rolls of King Henry 111 (1216 - 1272) and John Larder in the Privy Seal bills of November 1st to 15th 1559. In France where records are generally poorer, the name spelling forms include Lardier, Lardeux, Larderot, Lardez, etc. Examples taken from French records include Marquise Lelardeux, who married Jean Poirier at Angers, Maine et Loire, on August 28th 1637, and Nicholas Lardez who married Catherine Husson at Laoef, Meurthe et Moselle, on October 29th 1718. Other recordings in England include variant forms such as John Lardeau of West Meon, Hampshire on December 12th 1565, and John Lardeur of Dorset, apparently recorded in the rolls of Oxford University in 1616. The Coat of Arms granted in 1620 to Humphrey Larder of Uplyme, Dorset has the blazon of a silver field, three black piles, each charged with three gold bezants. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Bernard Larderer, which was dated 1130, in the Pipe Rolls of Wiltshire, during the reign of King Henry 1, known as "the Administrator", 1100 - 1135. 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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