Ford
Meaning of Ford
Ford began life not on a production line but in the Old English countryside, where “ford” named the shallow place one could safely cross a river, and the surname naturally attached itself to people who lived by those reliable water-gates. Pronounced FAWD in Britain and FAWRD in most of North America, the name’s single, muscular syllable feels as dependable as the geography it describes—sturdy, uncomplicated, and, unlike its automotive namesake, entirely maintenance-free. Historical figures lend it three distinct sheens: industrial (Henry Ford), presidential (Gerald Ford), and literary (the wry modernist Ford Madox Ford), together suggesting that practicality need not preclude imagination. Popularity statistics trace a gently undulating road: idling around the 700s and 800s for much of the late 20th century, the name downshifted into the 400s by 2021 and still hovers near that mark, indicating a quiet but decisive resurgence among parents who prize brevity with backbone. Thus, in contemporary Anglo-American ears, Ford sounds equally at home beside a misty stone crossing or on a six-lane freeway—offering a son a moniker that promises safe passage and steady momentum in one efficient syllable.
Pronunciation
British English
- Pronunced as fawd (/fɔːd/)
American English
- Pronunced as fawrd (/fɔːrd/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Ford
| Ford Madox Ford was an English writer and editor whose journals, The English Review and The Transatlantic Review, significantly influenced early 20th-century English and American literature. |
