Radford
Red ford, from Old English meaning a place to cross a red-colored river.
Name Census estimates that about 616 living Americans carry the first name Radford. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Radford today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Radford births was 1935 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Radford. 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.
People living today
616
~ 1 in 556,419 Americans
Peak year
1935
26 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,915
Tracked since 1885
Popularity
Radford: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Radford from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 182 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
Radford 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 Radford during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Radfords live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Alabama, Hawaii, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Radford, while Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Radford
The given name Radford is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "rad" (meaning "red") and "ford" (meaning "a shallow place where a river can be crossed"). It likely originated as a surname referring to someone who lived near a red or reddish-colored ford or river crossing.
In the early 12th century, the name appeared in various spellings, such as Radford, Redeford, and Redforde, in historical records from regions like Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire in England. The name's earliest documented use as a given name dates back to the late 13th century.
Radford does not appear to have any significant historical references in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or other notable historical records beyond its English origins and usage as a surname.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the given name Radford was Radford Ingram (c. 1480 - c. 1550), an English landowner and Member of Parliament from Nottinghamshire during the reign of Henry VIII.
In the 17th century, Radford Sykes (1615 - 1678) was a prominent English landowner and Member of Parliament who represented Yorkshire in the English Parliament.
During the 18th century, Radford Bayly (1736 - 1810) was a British Army officer who served in the American Revolutionary War and later became a Member of Parliament in Ireland.
In the 19th century, Radford Smyth (1810 - 1889) was an English architect and surveyor who designed several notable buildings in London and other parts of England.
Another notable figure was Radford Potter (1857 - 1921), an American businessman and politician who served as the Mayor of Worcester, Massachusetts, from 1908 to 1910.
People
Radford + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Radford as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Radford: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Radford?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 616 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Radford 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 556,419 US residents.
Is Radford a common name?
We classify Radford as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,198 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Radford most popular?
The single biggest year for Radford was 1935, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Radford is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Radford a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Radford 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.