Ford
Old English term describing a shallow area for crossing a river.
Name Census estimates that about 7,950 living Americans carry the first name Ford. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ford today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ford births was 2021 (707 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ford. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ford with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
8.0K
~ 1 in 43,114 Americans
Peak year
2021
707 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#570
Tracked since 1880
Census
Ford in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,279 people with the first name Ford, which placed it at #3,764 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,764
National first-name rank
People counted
5.3K
5,279 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ford
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ford is White at 84.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Black (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ford described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ford at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.3% · 4,451
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 231
- Black or African American4.3% · 226
- Two or more races4.0% · 211
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 132
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 28
Gender
Gender distribution for Ford
Out of the 10,381 babies given the name Ford since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Ford as a male name
- Ranked #570 in 2024
- 504 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (707 births)
Ford as a female name
- Ranked #14,369 in 2019
- 6 female births in 2019
- Peak: 2018 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ford leans strongly male. 5,167 people counted with this name were male (97.9%), compared with 109 female bearers (2.1%).
Popularity
Ford: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ford from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 3,071 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ford 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 Ford during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fords live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. California, Texas, Michigan recorded the most babies named Ford, while Hawaii, West Virginia, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 161 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ford
The name Ford is an English given name derived from the Old English word "ford," which means a shallow river crossing. It originated as a topographic surname, indicating someone who lived near a ford or river crossing.
Ford is believed to have first been used as a given name in the Middle Ages, particularly in England and parts of Scotland. Some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in medieval English records and documents.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Ford was Ford Madox Brown, an English painter and designer born in 1821. He was a prominent figure in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of artists known for their distinctive style and attention to detail.
Another famous bearer of the name was Ford Madox Ford, an English novelist, poet, and critic born in 1873. He was a leading figure in the English literary world of the early 20th century and is best known for his novels, including "The Good Soldier" and the tetralogy "Parade's End."
In the realm of sports, Ford Frick, an American baseball executive born in 1894, left a lasting impact. He served as the Commissioner of Baseball from 1951 to 1965 and was instrumental in several key decisions that shaped the game during his tenure.
The name Ford has also been associated with the automotive industry, thanks to Henry Ford, the American industrialist and founder of the Ford Motor Company. Born in 1863, he revolutionized mass production techniques and played a pivotal role in the development of the modern automobile industry.
Another notable figure with the name Ford was Ford Rainey, an American actor and director born in 1908. He had a successful career in Hollywood, appearing in numerous films and television shows throughout the mid-20th century.
While the name Ford has its roots in Old English and was originally a topographic surname, it has since gained popularity as a given name in its own right, particularly in English-speaking countries. Its association with prominent historical figures and industries has contributed to its enduring appeal and recognition.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ford
People
Ford + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ford as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ford: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ford?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,950 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ford 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 43,114 US residents.
Is Ford a common name?
We classify Ford as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,381 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ford most popular?
The single biggest year for Ford was 2021, when 707 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ford is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ford in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,279 people with the name Ford, or 1.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,764 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ford in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ford?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ford leans strongly male. 5,167 people counted with this name were male (97.9%), compared with 109 female bearers (2.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ford?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ford is White at 84.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Black (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ford most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ford in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.3% (4,451 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Ford in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ford a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Ford 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 Ford still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ford 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 Ford 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.
How common is the name Ford?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Ford at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.