The surname Ford has several origins. In some cases it originated as a name for someone who lived in near a ford, and is therefore derived from the Old English and Middle English ford. In some cases, the surname is derived from places named Ford. Examples of such places include Ford in Northumberland (from Old English ford), a place in Somerset, Ford in Shropshire (from Old English ford), Ford in West Sussex (from Old English ford), and Forde in Dorset.
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". These surnames were anglicised Ford because their final syllable was once erroneously thought to be the Irish áth ("ford"). Another Irish surname anglicised Ford is Ó Fuartháin, a name meaning "descendant of Fuarthán". 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". 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).
In some cases the surname Ford is an americanized form of like-sounding Jewish surnames, or else a translated form of the German Fürth. 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 and de Furd in the fifteenth century. 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. 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).
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