REDFORD
Redford is an English surname of locational origin, denoting individuals who lived near a particular geographical feature—a shallow crossing in a river where the bed or surrounding soil was of a reddish hue.
The element read, from Old English, means “red”, while ford refers to a shallow place where a river can be crossed. The name thus literally signifies “red ford” and was originally an identifier for people residing at such a crossing.
The earliest recorded instance of the surname occurs in the Pipe Rolls of 1209, where a “John de Radeford” is mentioned in Nottinghamshire during the reign of King John. The appearance of the name in early medieval documents confirms its antiquity.
In the early thirteenth century further records are found: Walter de Redford appears in the Pipe Rolls of Berkshire in 1230, and Hugo de Retford is noted in the Hundred Rolls of Nottinghamshire in 1275. These entries illustrate the geographic spread of the surname across the English counties of Berkshire and Nottinghamshire.
Although the dominant derivation is from the words for “red” and “ford”, some place‑names called Radford, located in Devon, Nottingham, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire, may also derive from the Old English rad, meaning “riding”, suggesting a ford suitable for horseback crossing. Where such a semantic cross‑reference exists, the surname could denote a different yet related locality.
In the sixteenth century a notable figure bearing the surname was John Redford, a musician, poet and dramatist flourishing in the year 1535. He produced instrumental compositions that were preserved in the manuscript known as the Thomas Mulliner Papers, acknowledging his contribution to the musical tradition of that era.
During the Early Modern period, the surname appears in the context of trans‑Atlantic migration. An example is a young John Redford, aged sixteen, who departed London aboard the ship “Dorst” bound for Bermuda in September 1635. Such movements demonstrate the early spread of the name beyond the English borders.
In the United Kingdom, Redford remains one of the more common surnames. It is ranked within the top fifty in England and Wales, with unusual density in northern counties, particularly Lancashire, Yorkshire, Merseyside, Durham and Northumberland. In Scotland the name also has a notable presence, often linked to ancestral ties back to the British Isles.
In North America the surname ranks amongst the most frequent, appearing as the 658th most common name in the United States according to the 2016 census. States where the name has a higher frequency than the national average include New York, Connecticut, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina and Texas.
Canada, too, shows a significant prevalence of the surname, placing it amongst the three hundred most common names in the country. Similar concentrations are observable in former British colonies such as Australia and New Zealand, and in more recent times in regions of South Africa and India, reflecting patterns of migration stemming from the British Empire.
The surname is associated with a heraldic device linked to Lancaster in Lancashire, further underpinning its geographical roots within that county. The coat of arms historically connected to the name provides visual affirmation of the family’s longstanding presence in the region.
Over the centuries the name has appeared in a variety of spellings, including Redforde, Redfode, Redford, Redeford, Radford, Redferd, Redfurth, Radfurd, Radforth, and many others. These variants are attributed to the lack of standardised spelling in earlier periods and the influence of regional dialects and local clerical practices.
Typical given names associated with the Redford surname
Male
- Alan
- David
- Ian
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Peter
- Robert
- Stephen
Female
- Donna
- Emma
- Jean
- Joan
- Linda
- Margaret
- Mary
- Maureen
- Rachel
- Sandra
- 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 Redford in...
Braille
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Morse
.-..-....-.---.-.-..
Semaphore
There are approximately 2,494 people named Redford in the UK. That makes it roughly the 3,521st most common surname in Britain. Around 38 in a million people in Britain are named Redford.
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 Redford
- Robert Redford - American actor and film director
- Ian Redford - Actor
- Ian Redford - Scottish football player (1960 to 2014)
- James Redford - Canadian politician (1821 to 1908)
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.