Forde
Usually an English or Irish surname meaning someone who lived by or came from a ford.
The #6,713 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 61,369 Americans shares it.
Etymology
In English use, Forde is a spelling variant of Ford, from Old English ford, meaning a shallow place where a river can be crossed. It was often first used for people who lived near such a crossing or identified with a place called Ford. The form with final -e is an older orthographic variant, not a different word.
History
The name appears in medieval English records in forms like atte Forde and de la Forde, showing how closely it was tied to local topography. In Irish records, Forde can also be an anglicized form of Gaelic names, including forms built on words for "road" or translations/English renderings of native surnames. As a result, modern bearers may have either English or Irish ancestry behind the same spelling.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Medieval scribes often added or dropped the final -e at will, so Ford and Forde could refer to the same family in different records.
From the historical record
“in the A.-Saxon Chronicle under the year 918 in the words: "Thurcytel eorl hine ge-sohte him t6 hl^forde." THURLBY(Scand.) Bel. to Thurlby (Lines: 13th cent. Thurleby), Thoralby (Yorks:”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)