Ford (surname) explained

The surname Ford has several origins. In some cases it originated as a name for someone who lived near a ford,[1] and is therefore derived from the Old English and Middle English ford.[2] In some cases, the surname is derived from places named Ford. Examples of such places include Ford in Northumberland[3] (from Old English ford),[4] a place in Somerset,[5] Ford in Shropshire[3] (from Old English ford),[4] Ford in West Sussex[3] (from Old English ford),[4] and Forde in Dorset.[3]

In other cases, the surname is sometimes an anglicised form of three Irish surnames. Two such surnames are Mac Giolla na Naomh, a name meaning "son of Gilla na Naomh"; and Mac Conshámha, a name meaning "son of Conshnámha".[6] These surnames were anglicised Ford because their final syllable was once erroneously thought to be the Irish áth ("ford").[3] Another Irish surname anglicised Ford is Ó Fuartháin, a name meaning "descendant of Fuarthán".[7] The personal name Fuartháin, derived from the Irish fuar ("cold"), was once taken to represent the Irish fuarathán ("cold little ford"), which led the name to be erroneously translated "ford".[8] The former two Irish surnames were borne by septs centred in the province of Connacht, whilst the latter was borne by a sept centred in County Cork (in the province of Munster).[9]

In some cases the surname Ford is an americanized form of like-sounding Jewish surnames, or else a translated form of the German Fürth.[3] Early instances of the surname Ford include de la forda in the eleventh century, æt Fordan in the twelfth-century, de la Forthe in the thirteenth-century, and Foorde[5] and de Furd in the fifteenth century.[10] The surname Ford, when found in Ireland, may be of English or Irish origin since many Ford families have immigrated to Ireland at various times in history. For example, a particular noted family of the name in County Meath emigrated from Devon in the fourteenth century.[11] In Ireland, birth records for the year 1890 reveal that the surname Ford was much less common than the variant Forde (154 births compared to only 39).[12]

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Sources

. Edward MacLysaght . 1972 . Irish Families: Their Names, Arms and Origins . 3rd . Crown Publishers . New York . M1 . 23251759M . Accessed via Open Library.

Notes and References

  1. [#F1|Ford Family History]
  2. [#F1|Ford Family History]
  3. [#F1|Ford Family History]
  4. [#M2|Mills 2003]
  5. [#R1|Reaney 2006]
  6. [#F1|Ford Family History]
  7. [#F1|Ford Family History]
  8. [#F1|Ford Family History]
  9. [#G1|Grehan 1997]
  10. [#B1|Black 1971]
  11. [#G1|Grehan 1997]
  12. [#T1|''The Great Families of Ireland'']

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