Frequency: (668)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
1. French: from the Germanic personal name Gozhard, composed of an unexplained firt element goz- + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’.
2. English (Midlands): occupational name for a keeper of geese, Middle English goseherde, from Old English gōs ‘goose’ + hierde ‘herdsman’, ‘keeper’.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
