Ford (surname)

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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]

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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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