Bayard
Masculine · “Bay-colored”
Bayard has been a horse, a knight and an organizer, and in that order. It is one of the few names in English that started as an animal's, moved to a man famous for having no fear, and ended on an American who changed the country from the second row.
How old is the name Bayard?
Bayard first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Bayard alive today was born around 1933, making them about 92 years old. About 300 people named Bayard are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bayard most popular?
Bayard peaked in 1882, reaching #943 nationally. See the whole 1882 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Bayard
The horse came first. In the medieval French chansons Bayard is a magic bay who can stretch his back to carry four brothers at once, understands speech, and cannot be killed — the most famous animal in a whole literature. Later the name belonged to a French knight so conspicuously honorable that his title became a stock phrase: the knight without fear and beyond reproach. The American bearer earned both halves of that. Bayard Rustin organized the March on Washington in eight weeks, taught nonviolent method to a movement that had not yet adopted it, and was kept off the platform and out of the photographs because he was gay and had been a Communist — accepting it, each time, on the grounds that the march mattered more than the credit.
Meaning
Bay-colored
The word describes a reddish-brown horse — bay, as in the coat color — with an ending that makes it a name. It began as what you would call such a horse, became the name of a particular legendary one, and only afterward attached itself to people.
Pronouncing Bayard
BY-erd
Two syllables, stress at the front. The French say bah-YAR, with the weight at the back and no final d, which almost no American does.
Nicknames for Bayard
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1882
- Most boys named
- 191832 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #943reached in 1882
- Change vs 2017
- −33.3%6 in 2020, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Bayard in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bayard in French — same name
Bayards among us
people named Bayard are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Bayard sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is a surname-shaped name with a genuine and unusually good set of namesakes.
- Bay gives it a short, current-sounding form that stands on its own.
- It is rare without being invented or difficult.
- It will be heard as Baynard, Bernard or Beyard and written as all three.
- The name is formal in a way that some children grow into and others do not.
- Most Americans will not know any of its bearers, so the explaining falls to him.
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Bayard
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Bayards are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Bayard are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bayard in 2025?
- Bayard is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Bayard with classmates?
- Bayard will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Brian#339 · Benjamin#11 · Brandon#261 · Bryan#336 · Bruce#536 · Billy#1068 · Bobby#1097 · Bradley#403
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bayard? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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