Beckford
A habitational surname meaning someone from Beckford, a place name originally tied to a brook or stream.
The #7,748 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 72,053 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Beckford is a habitational surname from the village of Beckford in Gloucestershire. The place name was understood by early surname writers as combining Old English becc, meaning "brook" or "stream," with ford, a river crossing. In other words, it likely meant "the ford by the brook."
History
The name appears in medieval records in forms such as de Beckford, showing that it was first used for people who came from that place. Later the surname spread beyond Gloucestershire, and it is especially familiar through the Beckford family of Jamaica and England, including the writer and collector William Beckford. 19th-century surname dictionaries also noted related spellings such as Bickford.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The Beckfords were noted by 19th-century biographers as having long roots in Gloucestershire before later becoming prominent in London and Jamaica.
From the historical record
“There is a tything in co. Berks so called. BECKFORD. A parish in Gloucester- shu-e, in which county the family first ap- pear, in connection with the Abbey of Gloucester, in the XII. cent. De Beck- ford. H.R. BECKIXGHAM. Parishes in cos. Lin- coln and Notts. De Bekingham occurs in the former co. H.R. BECKLEY.…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom