Everard

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A masculine given name of English origin, also used as a family name borne by various people over the centuries
2. A traditional English male first name, which is also found as a surname in many families
3. Used as a personal name for men, and occasionally as a surname passed down through generations

Etymology: Everard is a personal name rather than an ordinary word, and its story begins with an animal. Its earliest form was the Old English "Eofurheard" (or "Eoferard"), built from "eofor", meaning "wild boar", and "heard", meaning "hard" or "brave". A name meaning "boar-brave" suggests a warrior who would stand firm against the fiercest of beasts, and names of this kind were common among the Germanic peoples of early medieval England. The name was formed in the Germanic languages that preceded English, from a reconstructed Proto-West Germanic base, "Eburahardu, that combined "ebur ("wild boar") with *hardu ("hard, brave"). Over the centuries the Old English form lost its first syllable's distinctiveness and settled into the shape we now recognise. Cognate names from Anglo-Norman and Middle Dutch helped keep it in use alongside the English form. Everard is a doublet of Everett, two forms of the same ancient name that separated into distinct spellings and became established as surnames and given names in their own right.