Byrd (surname)

Byrd is a metonymic occupational or descriptive name that was originally used for a person who worked as a bird catcher (name shortened from "birdclever"),[5] or someone who had bird-like characteristics (i.e., bright eyed or active, or perhaps one with a beautiful singing voice).[6] Retrieved 23 June 2018</ref> A part of the ancient legacy of the Anglo-Saxon tribes in Britain, the surname Byrd was first found in Cheshire at Broxton, a village and civil parish in North West England. The surname was first recorded in Essex towards the end of the 12th Century as "Le Brid(d)."[7]

Until the gradual standardization of English spelling in the last few centuries, English lacked any comprehensive system of spelling. Consequently, spelling variations in names are frequently found in early Anglo-Saxon and later Anglo-Norman documents, meaning that a person's name was often spelled several different ways over a lifetime. As such, different variations of the Byrd surname usually have the same origin.

• Alma W. Byrd (1924–2017), American politician
• Bill Byrd (1907–1991), baseball player
• Bobby Byrd (1934–2007), American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and musician
• Butch Byrd (born 1941), AFL Hall of Fame
• Charles Willing Byrd (1770–1828), first sitting justice on the United States District Court of Ohio
• Charlie Byrd (1925–1999), American jazz guitarist
• Chris Byrd (born 1970), heavyweight champion in boxing
• Conley Byrd (1925–2014), Justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court
• Curley Byrd (1889–1970), American university administrator, educator, athlete, coach, and politician
• Damiere Byrd (born 1993), American football player
• Darryl Byrd (born 1960), American football player
• David Edward Byrd (born 1941), an American graphic designer and painter
• Dennis Byrd (1966–2016), American football player
• Donald Byrd (1932–2013), American jazz trumpeter
• Harry Byrd (baseball) (1925–1985)
• Harry F. Byrd (1887–1966), U.S. senator for Virginia
• Harry F. Byrd Jr. (1914–2013), U.S. senator for Virginia from 1965 until 1983
• Henry Roeland Byrd (1918–1980), blues musician
• Imhotep Gary Byrd, radio host and musician
• Jairus Byrd (born 1986), American football player
• James Byrd Jr. (1949–1998), murder victim
• Jefferson Byrd (born 1971), American politician
• Jerry Byrd (1920–2005), American lap steel guitarist
• Joseph Byrd (born 1937), rock musician
• Jonathan Byrd (musician) (born circa 1970), folk singer-songwriter
• Leo Byrd (born 1937), American basketball player
• Marlon Byrd (born 1977), baseball player
• Mary E. Byrd (1849–1934), American educator
• Mary Willing Byrd (1740–1814), second wife of Colonel William Byrd III
• Paul Byrd (born 1970), baseball player
• Petri Hawkins-Byrd (born 1957), bailiff "Byrd" on the Judge Judy TV series
• Richard Byrd (American football) (born 1962), former gridiron football player
• Richard E. Byrd (1888–1957), admiral, polar explorer, aviator
• Robert Byrd (1917–2010), U.S. Senator, Democrat from West Virginia
• Sammy Byrd (1910–1981), baseball player for the New York Yankees and PGA Tour golfer
• Steve Byrd (1955–2016), English rock musician
• Thomas Jefferson Byrd (1950–2020), American actor
• Tracy Byrd (boxer) (born 1964)
• Tracy Byrd (born 1966), country singer
• William Byrd (1540–1623), English composer
• William Byrd I (1652–1704), member of colonial Virginia's House of Burgesses
• William Byrd II (1674–1744), founder of Richmond, Virginia
• William Byrd III (1728–1777), member of the House of Burgesses, and military officer
• Winifred Byrd (1884–1970), American concert pianist

• Byrd (disambiguation)
• Bird (disambiguation)
• Robert J. W. Byrde (1922–2010), English mycologist and phytopathologist
• The dictionary definition of byrde at Wiktionary