Gilford
Of Old English origin, referring to a ford across a river near a hill.
Name Census estimates that about 450 living Americans carry the first name Gilford. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Gilford today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gilford births was 1922 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gilford. 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 Gilford is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Gilfords were born before 1966.
People living today
450
~ 1 in 761,676 Americans
Peak year
1922
40 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1984 SSA rank
#6,677
Tracked since 1884
Popularity
Gilford: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gilford from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 268 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
Gilford 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 Gilford during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gilfords live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Gilford, while Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gilford
The given name Gilford is an English name that originated in the medieval period, likely derived from the Old English words "gild" meaning "golden" and "ford" meaning "a shallow river crossing." It is believed to have been initially used as a surname, referring to someone who lived near a golden-colored ford or river crossing.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gilford can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and their holdings commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. It mentions a landowner named Gilford, though the exact spelling may have varied slightly.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Gilford remained relatively uncommon, primarily used by rural landowners and farmers in England. However, it gained some prominence during the Renaissance period, when a few notable individuals bore the name.
One such individual was Gilford Dudley (c. 1535-1554), the younger son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. He was executed alongside his father during the reign of Queen Mary I for their involvement in the attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the English throne.
Another notable bearer of the name was Sir Gilford Lawton (1605-1676), an English soldier and Member of Parliament who fought for the Royalist cause during the English Civil War.
In the 18th century, Gilford Studholme (1708-1776) was a prominent English landowner and politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire.
Moving into the 19th century, Gilford Young (1837-1890) was a British architect and surveyor who designed several notable buildings in London, including the Church of St Stephen's in Hampstead.
During the Victorian era, the name Gilford also appeared in literary works, such as the character Gilford Saye in the novel "Redburn" by Herman Melville, published in 1849.
While the name Gilford has never been extremely popular, it has maintained a presence throughout English history, often associated with individuals from rural or landed backgrounds. Its origins can be traced back to the Old English language, reflecting the cultural and linguistic heritage of England during the medieval period.
People
Gilford + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gilford as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gilford: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gilford?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 450 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gilford 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 761,676 US residents.
Is Gilford a common name?
We classify Gilford as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,225 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gilford most popular?
The single biggest year for Gilford was 1922, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gilford is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Gilford a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gilford 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.
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.