This interesting and unusual name is a dialectal variant of the occupational name of English origin, Millward. The name is chiefly found in the West Midlands, and would have been given originally to someone in charge of a mill. The derivation is from the Old English 'nylen', a mill, and 'weard', guardian, and in South West England and West Midlands would have been the normal medieval term for a miller. In the modern idiom the variants include, Milward, Millard, Millwood, Mellard. Two records of early marriages in London are between Edward Mullard and Susan Lee on October 27th 1625 at St. Martin in the Fields, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of John le Millard, which was dated 1279, Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire, during the reign of King Edward 1, 'The Hammer of the Scots', 1272 - 1307. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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