Hufford
A surname usually explained as a variant of Hafford or a related place-based name, likely meaning someone from a ford or settlement by a ford.
The #8,664 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 81,399 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Hufford is generally treated as an English locational surname, probably developed as a spelling variant of names like Hafford or Harford. The first element is likely an old place-name component referring to a ford, a shallow river crossing, though the exact source place is not always certain. In many cases, surnames of this type arose when people were identified by the place they came from or by a nearby geographic feature.
History
The surname appears to be relatively uncommon and seems to have remained concentrated in English-speaking countries, especially the United States. As with many locational surnames, its spelling could vary over time as clerks recorded the name phonetically, which may explain forms such as Hafford, Hefford, or Hufford. The modern American presence likely reflects later family migration and spelling stabilization.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Because early record keepers often spelled names by ear, surnames that sound alike sometimes drifted into several different written forms over the centuries.