| Ernest Ford Cochran | |
| Office: | Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina |
| Term Start: | November 22, 1923 |
| Term End: | March 4, 1934 |
| Appointer: | Calvin Coolidge |
| Successor: | Francis Kerschner Myers |
| Birth Name: | Ernest Ford Cochran |
| Birth Date: | 12 September 1865 |
| Birth Place: | Anderson, South Carolina |
| Death Place: | Charleston, South Carolina |
| Education: | University of Virginia School of Law (LL.B.) |
Ernest Ford Cochran (September 12, 1865 – March 4, 1934) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina.
Born in Anderson, South Carolina, Cochran received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1888. He was in private practice in Anderson for various periods from 1889 to 1923, and was also a United States Commissioner for the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina from 1889 to 1891. He was an Assistant United States Attorney of the District of South Carolina from 1891 to 1892 and from 1898 to 1905, also serving as Anderson's city attorney from 1898 to 1900, and was the United States Attorney for the District of South Carolina from 1906 to 1914, and for the Western District of South Carolina from 1921 to 1923.
Cochran received a recess appointment from President Calvin Coolidge on November 22, 1923, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of South Carolina vacated by Judge Henry Augustus Middleton Smith. He was nominated to the same position by President Coolidge on December 15, 1923. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on January 17, 1924, and received his commission on January 21, 1924. His service terminated on March 4, 1934, due to his death in Charleston, South Carolina.