Bueford
Of Old English origin, meaning "one who dwells at the buffalo ford."
Name Census estimates that about 42 living Americans carry the first name Bueford. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bueford today is around 86 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bueford births was 1921 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bueford. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Bueford is about 86 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Buefords were born before 1950.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Bueford. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
42
~ 1 in 8,160,818 Americans
Peak year
1921
15 babies that year
Average age
86
years old
1949 SSA rank
#3,351
Tracked since 1905
Popularity
Bueford: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bueford from the 1900s through to the 1940s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 94 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Bueford remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bueford by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bueford during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bueford
The given name Bueford is believed to have originated from the Old English language, with roots dating back to the early medieval period in Britain. It is thought to be derived from the combination of two Old English words: "bua" meaning "a dwelling" and "ford" referring to a shallow river crossing or a ford.
This suggests that the name Bueford may have initially been used to describe someone who lived near or was associated with a dwelling or settlement located near a ford or a shallow river crossing. The etymology points to the name's possible connection with geographic features and settlements in the British countryside during the Anglo-Saxon era.
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, some historians believe that variations of the name, such as Buford or Beaufort, were used among Anglo-Saxon communities in England during the 7th to 11th centuries.
One of the earliest documented examples of the name Bueford can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land and property commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The record mentions a landholder named Bueford in the county of Somerset, indicating the name's presence in England during the Norman period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bueford, including:
1. Bueford Pusser (1937-1974), an American law enforcement officer and sheriff known for his efforts to combat corruption and organized crime in Tennessee during the 1960s.
2. Bueford Delano (1909-1988), an American lawyer and politician who served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California from 1945 to 1963.
3. Bueford Barker (1915-1988), an American basketball player and coach who played in the National Basketball League (NBL) and coached several college and professional teams.
4. Bueford O'Neal (1923-2010), an American businessman and politician who served as the mayor of Monroe, Louisiana, from 1972 to 1976.
5. Bueford Woodbridge (1819-1901), an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Representative from Vermont from 1857 to 1861 and later as the United States Minister to Spain from 1869 to 1873.
People
Bueford + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bueford as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bueford: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bueford?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 42 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bueford going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 8,160,818 US residents.
Is Bueford a common name?
We classify Bueford as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 265 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bueford most popular?
The single biggest year for Bueford was 1921, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bueford is about 86 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bueford in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bueford a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bueford in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bueford still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bueford in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bueford can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Bueford?
See how many Americans are named Bueford on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.