Shackleford
A locational surname from a place-name meaning a ford associated with shackles or fittings.
The #3,130 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 26,789 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Shackleford is an English locational surname, from a place-name in Surrey. The name is usually explained as containing an old word related to 'shackle' or a fastening, plus 'ford,' a river crossing. The sense is probably of a ford marked or secured by fixed stakes, shackles, or metal fittings, though the first element is not absolutely certain.
History
The surname was taken by people who came from Shackleford in Surrey, and later spread more widely in England and beyond. Nineteenth- and early twentieth-century surname writers treated it as a straightforward local name. In later usage the spelling has often simplified to Shackelford in records and in the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The same surname books that connect Shackleford with a ford also link the related name Shacklock to an old word for a fetter or shackle.
From the historical record
“SHACKLEFORD 1 (Eng.) Bel. to Shackleford SHACKELFORD J (Surrey) [O.E./orrf, a ford: the first element (v. under Shackel) prob. denotes that the passage of the ford was facilitated by fixed shackles or staples] SHACKLOCK (Eng.) i meton. for Gaoler [M.E. sehakloc{k, a fetter-lock, fetters'; O.E. seacol, a shackle +…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)