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Origins of the Ford surname

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What does the name Ford mean?

The Ford surname has multiple origins, most of them from England. The most common source of the Ford name is topographical, describing someone who comes from or near a ford (shallow river crossing). Secondly, the name can be geographical, descriptive of someone who comes from one of the many place names around England with the name of 'Ford'. When the surname appears in Ireland it is most often assumed to have arrived from England, though there are a handful of Gaelic anglicisations with the same result.

Alternative variations of the name Ford

Ford, Forde, Fort, Forte, Furd

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Where do most Fords live?

In 1921, most Fords lived in London.


Census records trace your ancestors through each generation, so you can follow where your relatives lived through each decade.

Interesting facts about Fords

How common is your surname?

104th most common surname in the UK

We have 299,000 records for the Ford surname. The oldest one dates back to 1086.

Who were Fords most likely to marry?

Our Marriage record sets tell us which families married Fords.

What are the most common Ford first names?

  • John
  • William
  • Mary
  • Elizabeth

Our birth record sets tell us the names of Ford family members

Common jobs for Fords

Men and women often performed different types of jobs, so these are displayed by gender to maintain their historical accuracy.

Common Female occupations for Fords in 1921
Dressmaker

1,328

Laundress

988

Domestic Servant

771

General Servant Domestic

715

House Servant

599

Common Male occupations for Fords in 1921
Agricultural Labourer

1,434

General Labourer

1,323

Farmer

909

Farm Labourer

810

Carpenter

793

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Census records provide incredible detail on names, ages, marital statuses, occupations and more.

We found over 330,000 family trees with the Ford surname

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