Watford
A habitational surname for someone from Watford, especially the Hertfordshire town, literally “wattle-ford” or “hurdle-ford.”
The #7,194 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 66,454 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Watford is a habitational surname taken from one of the English places called Watford, most notably Watford in Hertfordshire. The name is usually explained as Old English elements meaning “wattle” or “hurdle” plus “ford,” so the original sense was something like “the ford by the wattles” or “the hurdle-ford.” Some early sources also note Watford in Northamptonshire as another possible source of the surname.
History
Medieval records show the place-name in forms such as Wateford and Watford, and the surname appears later as a local byname, often written “de Watford.” Because there was more than one place with this name, bearers could have come from different Watfords. The Hertfordshire town has remained the best-known association, and the surname is still found in England and the United States.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
The root idea behind the name is practical rather than picturesque: a ford reinforced with wattles or hurdles, the kind of woven branches used in early rural construction.
From the historical record
“WATES = Waites, q.v. WATFORD (Eng.) Bel. to Watford (Herts: 13th cent. Wateford, loth cent. Watford — 'Cart. Sax.' no. 812; Northants : 13th' cent. Watforde) = the Hurdle-Ford [O.E. wat-el, wattle, hurdle + ford] WATH \ (Scand.) Bel. to Wath ; or Dweller WATHE J at the Ford [O.N. aaS]”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)