BERESFORD
Beresford is a surname of English origin, situated within the continental linguistic tradition of the British Isles. The name is locational in character, constructed from the Old English elements beorg – meaning “hill” – and ford – indicating a shallow place in a river where it can be crossed. Consequently, the literal meaning of Beresford is “ford by the hill.”
Earliest documentary evidence of the surname appears in the early thirteenth century. A record in the ancient rolls of Staffordshire dated 1220 names John de Beversford, and the Ashmole roll of 1322 lists Sir Symon Bereford of Warwickshire. These documents confirm that the family name had already been in use by the early fourteenth century. Sir Symon Bereford is recorded as having borne a coat of arms – a silver field charged with a bear proper, collared and chained in gold – at the Battle of Boroughbridge in Yorkshire in 1322.
The Beresford lineage incorporates several distinguished branches. One notable Irish branch includes the Marquess of Waterford, and this family has been referenced in several entries of the Dictionary of National Biography. While a popular romantic narrative claims that all individuals bearing the name are descendants of Thomas Beresford, a soldier at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, that story cannot be substantiated and is therefore treated with caution by scholars.
Contemporary distribution data indicate that Beresford is chiefly concentrated in the United Kingdom, with significant occurrences in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. According to the Office for National Statistics, the surname ranks as the 7,259th most common in the UK, with a registered population of 10,436. The name is especially frequent in the counties of Lancashire, Warwickshire and West Yorkshire. Historical records from Derbyshire in the mid‑thirteenth century refer to a family of knighted Beausfords who held the estate of Blackwell, and this estate was granted to the noble Beresford family in 1286. In the sixteenth century, members of the family are recorded in Ireland’s Dietz and Pedemontana regions, suggesting a migration from Derbyshire during that period.
Spelling variation has been frequent throughout history, owing in part to low levels of literacy and the absence of a fixed orthography. Common alternate spellings include Bereford, Berresford, Berisford, Beresfore and Berrisford. Related surnames derived from analogous linguistic roots include Barresford, Barresforth, Berseford, and occurrences that incorporate the element burh (fort) or bere (bare), producing forms such as Barford or Bareford.
In sum, the surname Beresford is a historical marker of locational attachment to a river crossing near a hill, and its documented presence since the early Middle Ages underscores its enduring association with English nobility and regional heritage across the British Isles.
Typical given names associated with the Beresford surname
Male
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Richard
- Robert
Female
- Claire
- Elizabeth
- Emma
- Helen
- Jacqueline
- Jane
- Linda
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Beresford in...
Braille
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Morse
-.....-.......-.---.-.-..
Semaphore
There are approximately 8,142 people named Beresford in the UK. That makes it roughly the 1,159th most common surname in Britain. Around 125 in a million people in Britain are named Beresford.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Beresford
- John Beresford - Football player
- Paul Beresford - Politician
- Alex Beresford - Television presenter
- Elisabeth Beresford - Author of children's books, creator of The Wombles (1926 to 2010)
- Steve Beresford - Musician
- John Beresford, 5th Baron Decies - Anglo-Irish army officer and civil servant (1866 to 1944)
- John Beresford, 8th Marquess of Waterford - Irish peer (1933 to 2015)
- Harry Beresford - Stage actor, screen writer, and novelist (1863 to 1944)
- J. D. Beresford - Writer (1873 to 1947)
- Benjamin Beresford - Child actor
- Lucy Beresford - Writer, psychotherapist and media commentator
- Frank Beresford - Painter (1881 to 1967)
- Maurice Beresford - Historian (1920 to 2005)
- George Charles Beresford - Photographer (1864 to 1938)
- Diana Beresford-Kroeger - Botanist
- Jack Beresford - Rower (1899 to 1977)
- Marlon Beresford - Football player
- Seton Beresford - Cricketer (1868 to 1928)
- Joe Beresford - Football player (1906 to 1978)
- Lord William Beresford - Recipient of the Victoria Cross (1847 to 1900)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.