Hereward Forename

1,011,231st
Most Common
name in the World

Approximately 89 people bear this name

Most prevalent in:
England
Highest density in:
Cayman Islands

Hereward Forename Definition:

A male name. Old English Hereweard, compound of here ‘army’ and weard ‘guard’, ‘protection’. The name was made famous by Hereward the Wake, the last leader of Saxon resistance against the Normans. It survived until the end of the 13th C and gave rise to the surname Harward.

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Hereward Forename Distribution

PlaceGenderIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England
100%
541:1,029,68416,954
United States-111:32,957,907231,234
Australia-51:2,731,52422,009
Canada-21:16,566,68686,787
Spain-21:23,264,98224,876
Philippines
100%
21:53,004,738452,678
Scotland
100%
21:2,675,18318,328
South Africa
100%
21:27,266,324304,698
Zimbabwe
100%
11:15,423,817113,731
Ireland-11:4,643,51913,375
Wales
100%
11:3,094,30916,222
Thailand
100%
11:70,065,813391,235
Netherlands-11:16,902,08343,152
Malaysia
100%
11:30,449,940373,101
Hong Kong-11:7,752,72520,144
Chile
100%
11:17,607,20848,996
Cayman Islands-11:61,2992,487

Hereward (86) may also be a surname.

Hereward Forename Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

A male name. Old English Hereweard, compound of here ‘army’ and weard ‘guard’, ‘protection’. The name was made famous by Hereward the Wake, the last leader of Saxon resistance against the Normans. It survived until the end of the 13th C and gave rise to the surname Harward. It was revived at the beginning of the 19th C by the Wake family, which claims descent from the Saxon hero. Kingsley’s novel Hereward the Wake (1866) helped to make the name generally known.

Hereuuard, Herwart, Hereuuord Domesday Book 1086. Hereward Curia Regis Rolls 1196, 1200, Testa de Neville, or Book of Fees, temp. Hen. III-Edw. I 13th C.

The Oxford Dictionary of Christian Names (1947) by E. G. Withycombe

A Teutonic name, meaning: Guardian of the sword.

Dictionary of Given Names with Origins and Meanings (1934) by Flora Haines Loughead

Hereward Forename Popularity

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Footnotes

  • First names are taken from the first part of an person's personal name. That is, not their inherited name(s), i.e. their surname(s). The first name includes particles, but not middle names
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Hereward