Explore the Family Name Yard

The meaning of Yard

English (Somerset): topographic name for someone who lived ‘in the yard’ or from some minor placed named with Middle English yerde (from Old English geard ‘enclosure, yard’ or Old English gerd, gyrd ‘virgate, thirty acres’). A yardland (30 acres) was a medieval unit of land tenure.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Yard in the United States?

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname 'Yard' has seen a slight decline between 2000 and 2010. Its rank slipped from 15,598 to 17,159 during this period, marking a decrease of 10.01%. Similarly, the count of individuals bearing this surname decreased by 4.01%, falling from 1,720 in 2000 to 1,651 in 2010. Consequently, the proportion of people named 'Yard' per 100,000 fell by 12.5%, from 0.64 in 2000 to 0.56 in 2010.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#15,598	#17,159	-10.01%
Count	1,720	1,651	-4.01%
Proportion per 100k	0.64	0.56	-12.5%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Yard

In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data indicates that the majority of individuals with the surname 'Yard' identified as White, with an increase from 73.72% in 2000 to 74.20% in 2010. The second largest group identified as Black, although their proportion decreased slightly from 17.09% to 16.23%. Those identifying as Hispanic saw a growth of 6.94%, rising from 6.63% to 7.09%. The percentage of individuals who identified as belonging to two or more races remained relatively consistent, decreasing slightly from 1.28% to 1.27%. There were no individuals who identified as Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian and Alaskan Native in either year.

	2000	2010	Change
White	73.72%	74.2%	0.65%
Black	17.09%	16.23%	-5.03%
Hispanic	6.63%	7.09%	6.94%
Two or More Races	1.28%	1.27%	-0.78%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%