Frequency: (179)
(number of times this surname appears in a sample database of 88.7 million names, representing one third of the 1997 US population)
French: from Old French trenche, a derivative of trenchier ‘to cut, hack, or slice’ (compare Trench) + the pejorative suffix -ard, hence a metonymic occupational name for a butcher or a nickname for a violent person.
See the Key to the Dictionary or consult the General Introduction for further explanation.
