Comfort
A surname that may come from a place-name or sometimes from a nickname, with an early English record and several spelling variants.
The #9,155 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 86,629 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Comfort is usually treated as a locational name, probably referring to someone from a place recorded in forms such as Comport or Comeford. Bardsley notes that Comfort was used alongside Comport, Comford, and related spellings, and thought the local derivation preferable. In some instances, however, the name may also have functioned as a nickname rather than a place-name surname.
History
The name is recorded early in England, including a 1273 Hundred Rolls form Richard Cumfort. Historical sources also show families called Comport being written as Comfort, so the surname likely arose in more than one way. Later spellings varied widely, which is typical of medieval surnames before spelling was standardized.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Medieval records suggest that at least some Comforts were simply families whose older surname form was written in several different ways by clerks.
From the historical record
“Manneville, de Vernon, de Laci, de Maci, de Chandos, Corbet, de Harcourt, de Mortemer, de Glanville, Maltravers, de Tilly, Bertran, &c. — that is to say, unless he choose the more comfort- able and fashionable occupation of lounging in the gateway of the old " Hostellerie de Guillaume le Conquerant" in,the Rue…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)