Family name origins & meanings
- Spanish and Italian : from cardo ‘thistle’, ‘cardoon’ (Latin carduus), hence a topographic name, or possibly in some cases a metonymic occupational name for a wool carder, thistles having been used for this purpose.
- Italian : from a short form of a personal name with this ending, such as Accardo, Biancardo (see Biancardi), or Riccardo.
- Catalan (Cardó) : habitational name from a place named Cardó in Catalonia.