RoBards Name
The little I know about the RoBards is what I've found in published works here in USA. "A John Robards from Wales was an early colonist into America. The Robards were probably in Henrico County, VA, by 1680. They have been found in Bristol Parish, which included Henrico, Prince George, and Dinwiddie Counties, as well as Goochland. Our Robards are found in Surry County, Virginia, where they were allied with the Shands' family. "
Oftentimes, the name was spelled "Robbards" and when pronounced quickly it sounds like "Robberts." Same difference with Steward and Stewart if the name is sounded with a sharp "t" ending or not.
I received this info from the Internet Web Page of Broken Arrow Publishing at http:///clanhuston.com/name/namep-s.htm which gives quite an explanation of the name and its origin, linguistically. Being an English major, with a linguistics interest, this is quite meaningful to me.
The Normans brought the French given name ROBERT to England at the time of the Conquest. It means "fame, bright" and was derived from the Old German HRODEBERT. Rob, Hob, and Dob were pet forms of the name, and from Rob a number of surnames were derived–including the English Patrynymic name ROBINSON. Other versions are ROBART (English) ROBART, ROBARD, REBERT, ROSPARS (French), ROPARTZ (Brittany), FLOBERT, FLAUBERT (also French from a variation), ROBBERT, RUBBERT, ROPERT, RUPPERT (Low German). Cognates include ROUBERT, ROUBEIX (Provencal), ROBERTI, ROBERTO, BUBERTI, RUBERTO, RUPERTO, LUBERTI, LUBERTO, LUPARTI, LUPARTO (Italian), ROBERTO (Portuguese), RUPPRECHT, RUPPRECHT, RAUPRICH (German), and ROBBERECHT (Flemish).
I would surmise that the family came into England with William the Conqueror, as did many of my other ancestors. If not, the name could have been Anglo or Saxon from the Low German languages.
I am certain that many of the RoBards or Robbards, as my ancestors often spelled their name, became Roberts and blended in with the very common spelling. Today, I know of none of my immediate relatives by this name. My RoBards/Robbards were last found in Sussex County, VA, where they were large land owners. My grandmother was Nazareth Robbards who married William Shands. Her father was William Robbards, as spelled on his will.
Email: gpgpubl@icok.net
