This unusual name is a form of patronymic based upon the Olde English 'Glaes' meaning a glass - maker or Glazier and the French "ard", meaning "Little or Son of", the latter being medieval and a Norman introduction after 1066. As "Glassmaking" was a highly skilled and rare occupation, this is reflected in the relative rarity of the name. The modern name spellings are Glassard, Glasard and Glazzard, the name developments includes Mary Glazard who married Thomas Baldwin at St. Mary, Shoreditch in 1775, whilst in 1758, James Glassard was christened at St. Philips, Birmingham and Elizabeth Glazzard married John Dunn at St. Martins, Birmingham in 1835. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Thomas Glasard, which was dated 1654, witness at St. Margarets Church, Westminster, during the reign of Oliver Cromwell, known as "The Lord Protector", 1650 - 1658. 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.