Surname Leonard..?

Question

hi, I'm looking for people with Leonard by name. I just wanna know where

our surname come from. Am from Poland and i dont know my grandparents

from fathers site and i want to know everything about my ancestors.

Answer 1

http://www.lineages.com/?src=overture

Answer 2

If you really want to know "everything" about your ancestors, try talking to your relatives first and get as much information that you can - including when and where your grandparents, or aunts and uncles were born or died, any siblings names, etc.

Then from there  you should be able to trace your ancestors by looking up immigration, census and vital records.  The surname Leonard is very common, so you want to make sure you trace the right ones,  From what I have read, the Polish name Leonard was originally Lenart or Lenard.  Here is some general surname information for you......

LENART Name Polish, Czech, and Slovenian; Slovak (Lenárt): from the personal name Lenart (see Leonard).

LEONARD Name Meaning and History

English and French (Léonard): from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements leo ‘lion’ (a late addition to the vocabulary of Germanic name elements, taken from Latin) + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’, which was taken to England by the Normans. A saint of this name, who is supposed to have lived in the 6th century, but about whom nothing is known except for a largely fictional life dating from half a millennium later, was popular throughout Europe in the early Middle Ages and was regarded as the patron of peasants and horses

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You can click on these links to read messages from other people researching the surname Leonard from Poland (or post your own questions).  

http://boards.ancestry.com/SearchResults...

http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.leon...

And this link below has a few Leonard family trees with Polish ancestors:

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.ancestry.co...

Here is another good site:

http://www.kuijsten.de/navigator/poland/...

Good luck to you!

Answer 3

Surname: Leonard

Recorded in many spelling forms including Leonard, Lennard, Learned (England), Leonhard, Leonhardt (Germany), Leonardi, Leonardo, Lunardi (Italy), Lenart (Czech) and many, many more, this is a surname of Germanic or occasionally Irish origins. It derives from either the pre 7th century German personal name "Leonhard", composed of the elements "levon" meaning a lion, and "hardu", brave or hardy. The first recorded bearer of this given name was a 6th century saint who was consistently popular in France and England well into the Middle Ages, claiming over one hundred church dedications to his credit. He was and is, the patron saint of those held in captivity. In Ireland the surname may be from the same source, or as a form of the Gaelic O'Leannain. This is composed of the elements O' meaning "descendant of", and "Leannan", a byname meaning "lover". The surname is first recorded in England and Agnes Leonard appears in the Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire, dated 1272, whilst in Germany Johannes Leonardi of Ulm appears in the charters of that city in 1479. Thomas Leonard was one of the earliest namebearers to settle in the colony of Virginia, New England in 1635. The first recorded spelling of the family name anywhere in the world is that of Stephanus Leonardus. This was dated 1221, in the Assize Court Rolls of Worcestershire, during the reign of King Henry 111rd of Engaland, 1216 - 1272. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

Answer 4

Leonard :

Last name origin & meaning:

English and French (Léonard): from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements leo ‘lion’ (a late addition to the vocabulary of Germanic name elements, taken from Latin) + hard ‘hardy’, ‘brave’, ‘strong’, which was taken to England by the Normans. A saint of this name, who is supposed to have lived in the 6th century, but about whom nothing is known except for a largely fictional life dating from half a millennium later, was popular throughout Europe in the early Middle Ages and was regarded as the patron of peasants and horses.

Irish (Fermanagh): adopted as an English equivalent of Gaelic Mac Giolla Fhionáin or of Langan.

Americanized form of Italian Leonardo or cognate forms in other European languages.

The French Léonard family were at Château Richer, Quebec, by 1698, having come from Maine, France.