NameCensus.

UK surname

Ford

An occupational surname referring to someone who worked at or lived near a ford, a shallow river crossing.

In the 1881 census there were 29,131 people recorded with the Ford surname, ranking it #111 among surnames in the records. By 2016, the modern count was 40,719, ranked #122, down from #111 in 1881.

The strongest historical links point to Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, London parishes and Lambeth. In the modern distribution records, the strongest local clusters include North Warwickshire, Derbyshire Dales and Torridge.

Across the surname records, the highest recorded count for Ford is 42,476 in 1999. Compared with 1881, the name has grown by 39.8%.

1881 census count

29,131

Ranked #111

Modern count

40,719

2016, ranked #122

Peak year

1999

42,476 bearers

Map years

9

1851 to 2016

Key insights

  • Ford had 29,131 recorded bearers in 1881, making it the #111 surname in that year.
  • The latest modern count shown here is 40,719 in 2016, ranked #122.
  • Within the historical census years, the highest count was 37,919 in 1911.
  • The contemporary neighbourhood profile most associated with the surname is Rural Amenity.

Ford surname distribution map

The map shows where the Ford surname is concentrated in each census or modern distribution year. Darker areas mean a stronger local concentration.

Distribution map

Ford surname density by area, 1881 census.

Loading map
Lower densityMedium densityHigh density

Timeline

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Ford over time

The table below tracks recorded surname counts and rank from the 19th-century census years through the modern adult-register period.

Year Period Count Rank
1851 historical 18,193 #118
1861 historical 19,985 #106
1881 historical 29,131 #111
1891 historical 31,842 #103
1901 historical 36,488 #109
1911 historical 37,919 #99
1997 modern 40,525 #111
1998 modern 42,192 #111
1999 modern 42,476 #113
2000 modern 42,144 #115
2001 modern 41,128 #113
2002 modern 41,896 #116
2003 modern 40,776 #117
2004 modern 40,678 #118
2005 modern 39,796 #118
2006 modern 39,855 #118
2007 modern 40,073 #119
2008 modern 40,287 #118
2009 modern 41,228 #119
2010 modern 41,871 #120
2011 modern 41,397 #120
2012 modern 40,343 #120
2013 modern 41,163 #120
2014 modern 41,432 #120
2015 modern 40,988 #122
2016 modern 40,719 #122

Geography

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Where Fords are most common

Historical parish links are strongest around Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff, London parishes, Lambeth and Portsmouth, Portsea. These are the places where the surname stands out most clearly in the older records.

The modern local-area list points to North Warwickshire, Derbyshire Dales, Torridge and Bath and North East Somerset. Treat these as concentration signals, not proof that every family line began there.

Some modern areas include a three-digit suffix, such as Leeds 110. The suffix is a small-area code, so it stays in the table while the prose uses the plain place name.

Top historical parishes

Rank Parish Area
1 Bristol City: St Mary Redcliff Gloucestershire
2 London parishes London 1
3 London parishes London 3
4 Lambeth London (South Districts)
5 Portsmouth, Portsea Hampshire

Top modern areas

Rank Area District
1 North Warwickshire 003 North Warwickshire
2 Derbyshire Dales 009 Derbyshire Dales
3 Torridge 001 Torridge
4 Torridge 004 Torridge
5 Bath and North East Somerset 016 Bath and North East Somerset

Forenames

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First names often paired with Ford

These lists show first names that appear often with the Ford surname in historical and recent records.

Modern profile

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Neighbourhood profile for Ford

Modern surname records can be compared with neighbourhood classifications. For Ford, this points to the kinds of places where the surname is most concentrated today.

These neighbourhood labels describe areas, not individual people. They are useful because surnames often cluster through family history, migration, housing patterns and local work. A surname can be strongest in one type of neighbourhood even when people with that name live across the country.

The UK classification gives the national picture. The London classification is more specific to the capital, where housing, age profile, tenure and population mix can look quite different from the rest of the UK.

UK neighbourhood type

UK Output Area Classification

Supergroup

Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities

Group

Rural Amenity

Nationally, the Ford surname is most associated with neighbourhoods classed as Rural Amenity, within Suburbanites and Peri-Urbanities. This does not mean every Ford household fits that profile, but it gives a useful signal about where the modern surname distribution is strongest.

Read profile summary

Group profile

This Group comprises older parents or retirees, with no resident dependent children, and with the lowest residential densities in this Supergroup. Predominantly UK-born, residents typically live in detached houses, although others do live in semi-detached and terraced properties. The level of multiple car ownership is the highest in this Supergroup. Most houses are owner occupied although social renting is also present. Many concentrations occur in high amenity rural locations, such as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Wider pattern

Pervasive throughout the UK, members of this Supergroup typically own (or are buying) their detached, semi-detached or terraced homes. They are also typically educated to A Level/Highers or degree level and work in skilled or professional occupations. Typically born in the UK, some families have children, although the median adult age is above 45 and some property has become under-occupied after children have left home. This Supergroup is pervasive not only in suburban locations, but also in neighbourhoods at or beyond the edge of cities that adjoin rural parts of the country.

London neighbourhood type

London Output Area Classification

Supergroup

The Greater London Mix

Group

Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers

Within London, Ford is most associated with areas classed as Social Rented Sector Professional Support Workers, part of The Greater London Mix. This gives the surname a London-specific profile rather than forcing the capital into the same pattern as the rest of the country.

Read profile summary

Group profile

Mainly located in Inner London, these neighbourhoods retain a diverse employment structure, with some concentration in associated professional and technical occupations rather than skilled trades or construction. Social renting is more common and levels of homeownership are low. Many residents identify as Black. There is a lower than average rate of marriage or civil partnership, few that are very old (85 or over) and higher than average incidence of disability.

Wider London pattern

A Supergroup embodying London's diversity in many respects, apart from low numbers of residents identifying as of Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani or Other (non-Chinese) Asian ethnicity. There is lower than average prevalence of families with dependent children, while there are above average occurrences of never-married individuals and single-person households. The age distribution is skewed towards younger, single residents and couples without children, with many individuals identifying as of mixed or multiple ethnicity. Social rented or private rented housing is slightly more prevalent than average, and many residents live in flats. Individuals typically work in professional and associated roles in public administration, education or health rather than in elementary occupations in agriculture, energy, water, construction or manufacturing. Incidence of students is slightly below average. Individuals declaring no religion are more prevalent than average and non-use of English at home is below average.

Healthy neighbourhoods

Access to healthy assets and hazards

Ford is most concentrated in decile 5 for access to healthy assets and hazards. This places the surname near the middle of the scale.

Lower deciles point towards weaker access to healthy assets or stronger exposure to local hazards. Higher deciles point towards stronger access and fewer hazards.

5
Lower access Higher access

Neighbourhood deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation

Ford falls in decile 7 for neighbourhood deprivation. This puts the surname near the middle of the scale.

Decile 1 represents the more deprived end of the scale. Decile 10 represents the less deprived end.

7
More deprived Less deprived

Broadband speed

Fixed broadband download speed

The modern neighbourhood pattern for Ford is most associated with a typical fixed broadband download band of 30-40 mbit/s.

The scale below places that band in context, from slower local download bands through to faster ones.

6
Slower band Faster band

Area snapshot

Ethnic group estimate

Most common ethnic group estimate
White - British

This describes the area pattern most associated with Ford, not the ethnicity of every person with the surname.

Meaning and origin of Ford

The surname Ford is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "ford," which means a shallow place where a river or stream can be crossed. It was originally an occupational name for someone who lived near a ford or was responsible for maintaining a ford.

The name can be traced back to the 11th century in England, and it appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive record of land ownership and taxation in England and parts of Wales commissioned by William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book lists several individuals with the surname Ford or similar spellings like Forde or Forde.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Ford is in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire, which date back to 1176. These rolls mention a person named Radulfus de la Forde, indicating that the name was already in use by the late 12th century.

The surname Ford is also associated with various place names in England, such as Ford in Northumberland, Ford in Sussex, and Ford in Shropshire. These place names likely contributed to the widespread adoption of the surname in different regions of the country.

Notable individuals with the surname Ford throughout history include:

1. John Ford (1586-c.1639), an English playwright and poet, known for his tragedies such as 'Tis Pity She's a Whore and The Broken Heart.

2. Henry Ford (1863-1947), the American industrialist and business magnate who founded the Ford Motor Company and revolutionized the automobile industry with the assembly line production method.

3. Gerald Ford (1913-2006), the 38th President of the United States, who served from 1974 to 1977 after taking over for the resigned Richard Nixon.

4. Sir Edmund Ford (1605-1670), an English lawyer and politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1671.

5. Harrison Ford (born 1942), the iconic American actor known for his roles in films such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Blade Runner.

While the surname Ford has its roots in England, it has since spread to other parts of the world and can now be found in various countries and cultures, reflecting the mobility and diversity of human populations over time.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

1881 census detail

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Ford families in the 1881 census

These tables use 1881 census entries for people recorded with the Ford surname. Use the location tables for concentration, then the name and occupation tables for the people behind the surname.

Top counties

Total is the county count. Frequency and index adjust for local population size, so they are better concentration signals. Middlesex leads with 3,496 Fords recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.23x.

County Total Index
Middlesex 3,496 1.23x
Lancashire 2,213 0.66x
Surrey 1,691 1.22x
Devon 1,645 2.78x
Yorkshire 1,497 0.53x
Staffordshire 1,457 1.52x
Gloucestershire 1,337 2.40x
Hampshire 1,154 1.98x
Somerset 1,153 2.52x
Kent 1,095 1.13x
Warwickshire 1,044 1.45x
Sussex 888 1.85x
Derbyshire 857 1.92x
Wiltshire 816 3.24x
Cheshire 688 1.10x
Durham 514 0.61x
Essex 485 0.86x
Suffolk 483 1.39x
Glamorgan 421 0.85x
Lanarkshire 393 0.43x
Dorset 361 1.93x
Berkshire 332 1.55x
Cornwall 330 1.02x
Worcestershire 329 0.89x
Northumberland 296 0.70x
Angus 292 1.11x
Midlothian 279 0.73x
Lincolnshire 266 0.58x
Leicestershire 254 0.81x
Nottinghamshire 246 0.64x
Monmouthshire 239 1.16x
Hertfordshire 235 1.20x
Norfolk 232 0.53x
Fife 212 1.26x
Shropshire 195 0.79x
Buckinghamshire 166 0.96x
Bedfordshire 161 1.09x
Oxfordshire 135 0.77x
Berwickshire 132 3.83x
Perthshire 119 0.93x
Northamptonshire 118 0.44x
Herefordshire 106 0.91x
Cambridgeshire 89 0.49x
Renfrewshire 66 0.30x
Cumberland 65 0.27x
Huntingdonshire 53 0.94x
Royal Navy 48 1.42x
Roxburghshire 43 0.83x
Aberdeenshire 38 0.14x
East Lothian 37 0.98x
Rutland 36 1.72x
Channel Islands 35 0.42x
Brecknockshire 27 0.47x
Clackmannanshire 27 1.15x
Montgomeryshire 25 0.38x
West Lothian 23 0.54x
Pembrokeshire 22 0.24x
Denbighshire 18 0.17x
Selkirkshire 17 0.66x
Dumfriesshire 16 0.25x
Radnorshire 15 0.65x
Stirlingshire 11 0.10x
Anglesey 10 0.20x
Kincardineshire 10 0.29x
Kirkcudbrightshire 9 0.22x
Caernarfonshire 8 0.07x
Dunbartonshire 8 0.10x
Orkney 8 0.26x
Argyllshire 7 0.09x
Isle of Man 7 0.13x
Kinross-shire 7 0.97x
Ayrshire 6 0.03x
Buteshire 3 0.17x
Wigtownshire 3 0.08x
Carmarthenshire 2 0.02x
Morayshire 2 0.05x
Ross-shire 2 0.03x
Westmorland 2 0.03x
Banffshire 1 0.02x

Top districts and towns

Districts give a more local view than counties. Total shows raw records, while frequency and index show local concentration. Aston in Warwickshire leads with 394 Fords recorded in 1881 and an index of 1.99x.

Place Total Index
Aston 394 1.99x
Lambeth 347 1.40x
Birmingham 319 1.33x
Islington London 309 1.12x
Portsea 276 2.41x
Kensington London 260 1.64x
St Pancras London 260 1.14x
Camberwell 213 1.17x
Hackney London 197 1.23x
Stoke Upon Trent 185 1.82x
St Marylebone London 181 1.19x
Liverpool 180 0.88x
Brighton 162 1.67x
St George Hanover Square 149 2.97x
Manchester 148 0.97x
Shoreditch London 142 1.15x
Bristol St Philip Jacob 141 2.68x
Paddington London 137 1.31x
Bedminster 135 3.14x
Deptford St Paul 135 1.80x
Bermondsey 133 1.57x
Wolverhampton 132 1.79x
Bristol St George 130 5.04x
Plymouth St Andrew 124 2.72x
West Ham 124 1.00x
Mile End Old Town London 123 2.03x
Croydon 121 1.57x
Battersea 110 1.05x
Sheffield 108 1.20x
Wolstanton 105 3.60x
Hammersmith London 104 1.48x
Barony 102 0.44x
Newington 97 0.92x
Toxteth Park 97 0.85x
Chelsea London 94 1.10x
Dundee 94 0.96x
Edinburgh St Cuthberts 93 0.61x
Burslem 92 3.34x
Stoke Damerel 90 2.17x
Chapel En Le Frith 89 21.88x
Warrington 89 2.22x
Clifton 88 3.12x
Leeds 87 0.55x
Nottingham St Mary 87 0.88x
Bethnal Green London 83 0.67x
Holy Trinity 82 1.21x
Walsall Foreign 82 1.65x
Derby St Werburgh 79 3.07x
Govan 76 0.33x
Plymouth Charles The 76 2.91x
Gateshead 75 1.18x
Southwark St George Martyr 75 1.31x
Bromley London 73 1.17x
Tipton 73 2.48x
Oldham 72 0.66x
Clerkenwell London 69 1.03x
Salford 69 0.69x
Keynsham 68 20.67x
West Derby 68 0.69x
Westoe 68 1.42x
Everton 65 0.60x
Ecclesall Bierlow 64 1.12x
Eastbourne 63 2.85x
Ratcliffe London 63 4.01x
Cheltenham 62 1.44x
Hove 62 2.95x
Rickmansworth 62 11.48x
Woolwich 62 1.73x
Ashton Under Lyne 60 0.81x
Glasgow 59 0.36x
Hampstead London 59 1.33x
Lewisham 59 1.14x
Bristol St James St Paul 58 3.12x
Blackburn 57 0.63x
Limehouse London 57 1.82x
Rotherhithe 57 1.62x
Mere 56 19.59x
Widnes 56 2.30x
Bromley 55 3.72x
Watford 55 3.62x

Top female names

These are the female first names most often recorded with the Ford surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
Mary 1,813
Elizabeth 1,077
Sarah 936
Ann 526
Jane 495
Ellen 475
Eliza 465
Emma 415
Annie 402
Alice 378
Emily 370
Margaret 271
Hannah 234
Louisa 222
Martha 206
Caroline 200
Fanny 182
Harriet 180
Catherine 179
Maria 178
Florence 169
Charlotte 166
Edith 165
Kate 150
Ada 129
Clara 124
Lucy 115
Susan 102
Harriett 99
Agnes 93
Frances 93
Anne 86
Rose 85
Amelia 80
Isabella 73
Julia 71
Amy 65
Matilda 65
Sophia 65
Bridget 64
Esther 62
Lydia 62
Jessie 61
Rebecca 60
Bessie 55
Elizth. 54
Minnie 53
Anna 50
Susannah 50
Eleanor 48

Top male names

These are the male first names most often recorded with the Ford surname in 1881. Names are not merged, so initials, variant spellings and transcription quirks can appear as separate rows.

Name Count
William 1,654
John 1,567
George 942
Thomas 880
James 849
Henry 626
Charles 612
Joseph 391
Frederick 322
Edward 306
Alfred 302
Robert 301
Samuel 274
Arthur 246
Richard 230
Walter 226
Albert 200
Harry 159
Frank 153
Francis 116
Edwin 115
Ernest 102
Herbert 94
Patrick 86
Wm. 79
David 72
Michael 68
Benjamin 63
Daniel 63
Peter 63
Isaac 53
Fred 51
Thos. 49
Andrew 45
Fredrick 42
Sidney 35
Tom 35
Geo. 33
Stephen 33
Martin 31
Matthew 29
Percy 29
Alexander 27
Mark 26
Chas. 25
Hugh 25
Robt. 22
Edmund 21
Sydney 21
Fredk. 20

Top occupations

Occupational titles are kept as recorded and later transcribed, so related jobs, spelling variants and mistakes stay separate. Scholar was the census term for a child in education. That means the other rows often tell you more about adult work in Ford households.

FAQ

Ford surname: questions and answers

How common was the Ford surname in 1881?

In 1881, 29,131 people were recorded with the Ford surname. That placed it at #111 in the surname rankings for that year.

How common is the Ford surname today?

The latest modern count shown here is 40,719 in 2016. That gives Ford a modern rank of #122.

What does the Ford surname mean?

An occupational surname referring to someone who worked at or lived near a ford, a shallow river crossing.

What does the Ford map show?

The map shows local surname concentration for the selected year. Darker areas have a stronger concentration of Ford bearers relative to the surrounding population.

What records is this surname page based on?

The historical counts come from census surname records. The modern counts and neighbourhood summaries come from later surname distribution records. Counts are recorded bearers in those records, not a live estimate of everyone with the name today.