Ledford
A surname most likely from a place-name meaning “ford by a clearing or slope,” though its exact origin is not fully certain.
The #1,946 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 16,660 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Ledford is generally treated as a locational surname, probably from an English place-name built from Old English elements. The second element is straightforward: ford means a river crossing. The first element is less certain, but may reflect an Old English word for a clearing, slope, or similar landscape feature, so the original sense would have been something like “the ford by the clearing/slope.”
History
The name appears in English records in variant spellings such as Lydford, Ledford, and Ladford, which makes its precise local source harder to pin down. Like many locational surnames, it would originally have identified someone who came from a particular place and later became hereditary. In modern usage it is especially well established in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early records show several spellings side by side, a reminder that surnames often settled only after centuries of variation.
From the historical record
“Kirby'aOneu.p. aij. 1450. John LydTord. or Ledford, or Ladford: Marriage Lie (Faculty Office), Luoy, Looey.— (I) Local, 'de , 'StL,^'"*?" '^'I'^SP'' ,"?^P'^”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances