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A name. A world of connections.
“army” + “guard”
/ˈhɛɹəwə(ɹ)d/ · English
01 / Meaning & origin
Hereward is a masculine given name documented in English. English Wiktionary traces it to Old English Hereweard, from the components “army” + “guard”.
2 source accounts
Meaning: “army” + “guard”
Borrowed from Old English Hereweard, a compound of here (“army”) + weard (“guard”). Doublet of Harvard and Harward.
stang.
02 / Across borders
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Documented as a given name in English.
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03 / By the numbers
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04 / Through time
Passages quoted verbatim from public-domain reference works. They reflect the scholarship of their time, not current consensus, and may use obsolete spellings.
Hereward— “sword guardian”
Another very old term for a sword was _hjøru_, or _hiru_, in the North; _hairu_, _heru_, in the Gothic; _heoru_, in Anglo-Saxon. Here we see that the Heruli and Cheruschi, as the Romans called them, were both sword men. Heoruvard, or Hereward the Saxon, was the sword guardian; Heorugar answered to the northern Hjørgeir; there was a Gothic Hairuwolf, or Heruwolf; in the North, Hiørulf, Hiørleif, and Hiørdis also occur; but the syllable gets contracted into Her, and the names…
Another very old term for a sword was _hjøru_, or _hiru_, in the North; _hairu_, _heru_, in the Gothic; _heoru_, in Anglo-Saxon. Here we see that the Heruli and Cheruschi, as the Romans called them, were both sword men. Heoruvard, or Hereward the Saxon, was the sword guardian; Heorugar answered to the northern Hjørgeir; there was a Gothic Hairuwolf, or Heruwolf; in the North, Hiørulf, Hiørleif, and Hiørdis also occur; but the syllable gets contracted into Her, and the names are not easily distinguished from those beginning with _her_, a warrior. Hjaraande is another northern form.
Yonge, History of Christian Names (1884), Part VI, Chapter III (Names From Objects Connected With Mythology), Section XI (Weapon Names) · Public domain (Project Gutenberg)
People recorded with this given name in Wikidata. Their names may use a different spelling, or include it as a middle or baptismal name.
11th-century leader of local resistance to the Norman conquest of England
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06 / Behind the facts
Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.
Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.
