Cranford
Derived from Old English words meaning "crane" and "ford".
Name Census estimates that about 24 living Americans carry the first name Cranford. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cranford today is around 81 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cranford births was 1927 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cranford. 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 Cranford is about 81 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cranfords were born before 1955.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cranford. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
24
~ 1 in 14,281,431 Americans
Peak year
1927
13 babies that year
Average age
81
years old
1962 SSA rank
#4,165
Tracked since 1915
Popularity
Cranford: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cranford from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 69 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cranford 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 Cranford during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cranfords live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cranford
The name Cranford has its origins in Old English, tracing back to the Anglo-Saxon era in Britain. It is a locational surname derived from the place name "Cranford," which itself is a compound of the Old English words "cran" meaning "crane" and "ford" meaning "a shallow river crossing." This suggests that the name's origins are tied to a particular location where cranes were known to gather near a ford or shallow crossing.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Cranford can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of landowners and their holdings commissioned by William the Conqueror. In this historical record, a place called "Cramforde" is listed, likely referring to the same location that gave rise to the surname.
During the Middle Ages, the name Cranford was closely associated with the village of Cranford in Middlesex, England. This village was mentioned in several historical documents from the 13th and 14th centuries, further solidifying the name's ties to this particular location.
In terms of notable individuals who bore the name Cranford, one of the earliest was Robert Cranford, a English landowner and knight who lived in the late 13th century. Another prominent figure was John Cranford, who served as the Chief Justice of the King's Bench in England during the reign of King Edward III in the 14th century.
Moving forward in time, the name Cranford gained literary significance with the writer Mary Russell Mitford (1787-1855), who wrote a series of sketches titled "Our Village" based on the village of Cranford in Middlesex. These sketches were later adapted into the popular BBC television series "Cranford" in the early 2000s.
Other notable individuals with the name Cranford include:
1. William Cranford (1592-1645), an English clergyman and academic who served as the Provost of Eton College.
2. John Cranford (1683-1757), a British naval officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of the Bahamas Islands.
3. James Cranford (1745-1828), an American politician and Revolutionary War soldier who served as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates.
4. Elizabeth Cranford (1814-1890), an American educator and abolitionist who established one of the first schools for African American children in Washington, D.C.
The name Cranford has a rich history that spans centuries, with its roots firmly planted in the Old English language and the Anglo-Saxon era. Its association with a specific location in England and its appearances in historical records and literature have solidified its place as a name with a distinct heritage.
People
Cranford + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cranford as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cranford: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cranford?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 24 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cranford 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 14,281,431 US residents.
Is Cranford a common name?
We classify Cranford as "Very Rare". It ranks above 43% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 158 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cranford most popular?
The single biggest year for Cranford was 1927, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cranford is about 81 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 Cranford in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cranford a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cranford 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 Cranford still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cranford 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 Cranford 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 are called Cranford?
See how many Americans are named Cranford on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.