Origins of the Ford surname

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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Delve deeper into the Ford family's history

OrkneyShetlandHighlandsWestern IslesGrampianTaysideCentralStrathclydeFifeLothianBordersDumfriesNorth East 1003North West 981Isle of Man 25Yorkshire 1894East Midlands 1226West Midlands 2211East 1493London 5797South East 2897South West 1766South Wales 636Mid Wales 48West Wales 12North Wales 51Republic of IrelandNorthern Ireland

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.

70,000 Ford Travel & migration records
290,000 Fords found in all Census records

Interesting facts about Ford

How common is your surname?

104th most common surname in the UK

We have for the Ford surname. The oldest one dates back to 1086.

Who were Fords most likely to marry?

Our tell us which families married Fords.

What are the most common Ford first names?

John

William

Mary

Elizabeth

Our tell us the names of Ford family members
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Census records provide incredible detail on names, ages, marital statuses, occupations and more.

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

We found over 360,000 family trees with the Ford surname

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