Sheppard surname meaning

Sheppard is an English occupational surname, a historical spelling of Shepherd. The name comes from Middle English schepeherde, from Old English words for “sheep” and “herder” or “guardian,” for someone who tended sheep. Shepherd, Shepard, Shephard, and Shepperd are sister spellings; Shepard already appears earlier in this catalog, and Sheppard is simply another common American and British form of the same trade name. A rare ship-ward reading exists for some look-alike spellings, but the sheep-herder sense dominates. Occupation is high confidence for the shared English shepherd surname.