Stafford
A habitational surname from Stafford in Staffordshire, originally meaning “ford by the landing place” or a similar riverside crossing.
The #747 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 6,655 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Stafford is a habitational surname taken from the town of Stafford in Staffordshire. The place-name is usually explained from Old English elements meaning a bank or landing-place plus ford, so the name refers to a ford beside a shore, bank, or landing point. Older scholarship sometimes connects it with an earlier form like Stadford or similar spellings, but the basic sense is a river crossing at a landing place.
History
As a surname, Stafford was used by people who came from the town or were identified with it. Some genealogical writers also note a noble family of Stafford who took the name from the castle and lordship there after the Norman Conquest. The surname spread widely in England and later to other English-speaking countries.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The medieval Stafford family became important enough that the Dukes of Buckingham descended from them.
From the historical record
“the Bristol Channel."— ATat. Gaz. STAFFORD (Eng.) I Bel. to Stafford (Staffs), the Domesday Stadford, Stafford = the Staith or Landing-Place Ford [O.E. iteSJ, a bank, shore; hence, a landing- place ■\-ford\ "It is impossible to doubt that the original form was Stmthford." — Duignan, Staffs Place-Names, p. 141. 2…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)