This surname is derived from an official title. 'the hayward,' a keeper of cattle, literally 'hedge-watcher'; v. Hay or Hey. There were two kinds of Haywards: the hayward of the town or village, who kept the common cattle from straying or trespassing; and the hayward of the lord of the manor, or religious house. See Way's note, Promptorium Parvulorum.

'To the hayward of Portham Poolmead, ... or of all the hay meadows near Gloucester.' Diss, of Gloucestershire Abbey, 31 Henry VIII: Rudder's Gloucestershire.

'Hayward. A keeper of the common herd of cattle of a town': Bailey's Dict.

(a) Bapt. 'the son of Haward.' For instances and proof, v. Howard.

Adam le Hayward, Devon, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

Roger le Hayward, Buckinghamshire, ibid.

Alicia le Heyward, Huntingdonshire, ibid.

Robert le Heyward, Somerset, 20 Edward I: Placita de Quo Warranto, temp. Edward I-III.

Nicholas le Hayward, c 1300. Writs of Parliament.

Robertus Hayward, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire p. MI.

Magota Hayward, 1379: ibid.

1598. Thomas Michaell and Audrey Hayward: Marriage Lic. (.London).

1615. Baptised — Thomas, s. Richard Hayward: St. James, Clerkenwell.

1619. — Michaell, s. Richard Haward: ibid.

1622.—John, s. Richard Hayward: ibid.

(English) 1 Hay(Hedged Enclosure)- Keeper [Old English hæg, haga, hedged enclosure + w(e)ard, keeper] Adam le Hayward.—Hundred Rolls The duties of the hayward were of a varied nature. His chief task seems to have been to guard the cattle at pasture; but he also protected the crops from thieves, trimmed the hedges, etc. In old poems he is generally represented as carrying a horn — Other [or] have an horne and be hay-warde, And liggen [lie] oute a nyghtes, And kepe my corn in my croft Fro pykers and theeves.— Piers Plowman (Whitaker), VI. 16-17.

(rarely) 2 High or Chief Guardian [ Anglo-Saxon Heáhw(e)ard - heáh+ w(e)ard]

“Hedge Guard” in Old English (Haeg Ward). Hence also Howard.

Originally “Heze-ward”, Guardian of a Fenced-off Hayfield.

(English) The manorial official who had charge of the hedges and was guardian of the cultivated land to protect it from straying cattle.

There is nothing Norman in this name. “An interesting relic of primitive precaution against the straying of animals is found in the officership of the ‘Hayward,’ (or ‘Adam le Heyward,’ as the Hundred Rolls have it), whose duty it was to guard the cattle that grazed on the village common. He was so styled from the Saxon ‘hay,’ “Haga, or Haya, was the ancient name for a hedge among the Northern nations, and was also applied to the enclosures which the hedges surrounded.” - Hoare's Wilts. The word is still in use in France; thence the motto of the French La Hayes - “Bonne est la haie autour du bled.” or hedge. An old poem has it - “In tyme of hervest mery it is ynough; Peres and apples hongeth on bough: The hayward bloweth mery his horne; In every felde ripe is corne.”

In ‘Piers Plowman,’ too, we have the word - “I have a horne, and be a hayward, And liggen out a nightes And kepe my corne and my croft From pykers and thieves.”

It will be seen from these two references that the officership was of a somewhat general character. The cattle might be his chief care, but the common village interests were also under his supervision. The term has left many surnames to maintain its now decayed and primitive character. ‘Hayward’ and ‘Haward’ are, however, the most familiar.” - Bards ley's English Surnames.

French haie, a hedge, and ward, Old English a guardian or keeper. Inclosures as well as the fences which encircled them were called hays; hence a Hayward was a person employed to watch enclosed fields.

Anciently in England the keeper of the common herd or cattle of a town, from the Saxon hieg, hay, and ward, a keeper.

A Norman name: Hauwaert, local name, Belgium.

Haward: as Leland has it. This is not a Norman-French name; it is from the Norse Hávard, and has the same origin as Howard.

Hayman: But some Haymans may be from Aymon.was the village official whose duty it was to guard the cattle that grazed on the village common, that they did not trespass on the ground where was the grass grown for hay during the winter. Until hedges became common, the hayward had to keep a sharp lookout on the cattle committed to his charge. In “Piers Plowman” we have: “I have a home and be a Hayward And liggen out at nyghtes, And kepe my come and my croft From pykers and theves.”

In an old song descriptive of summer and autumn it is said that “The hayward bloweth merry his home.” For his services it would seem that he was not only paid a few pence, but was also given by the parish a cottage and a croft. The surname now sometimes Heyman; also as Haybiddel (i.e., hay-beadle) and Hayter.