Find out how popular the last name Bedford is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Bedford.

Bedford, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Bedford surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Bedford in America

Bedford is the 4029th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Bedford surname appeared 8,814 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 3 people would have the surname Bedford.

We can also compare 2010 data for Bedford to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Bedford

The surname Bedford originated in England during the medieval period. It is a locational surname, derived from the town of Bedford in Bedfordshire. The name Bedford itself is derived from the Old English words "bed" meaning "bed" or "flat land" and "ford" meaning a shallow place where a river can be crossed.

The earliest known record of the surname Bedford dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Bedeford." This indicates that the name was already in use by the late 11th century. During the Middle Ages, people commonly took surnames based on the places where they lived or originated from, which explains the origin of the name Bedford.

One of the earliest known bearers of the surname was John de Bedford, who was mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of Northamptonshire in 1195. In the 13th century, Robert de Bedford was listed as a landowner in the Hundred Rolls of Bedfordshire in 1279.

The surname Bedford has a long and distinguished history, with several notable individuals bearing the name. One of the most famous was John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (1485-1555), a prominent statesman and military commander during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. Another notable figure was Thomas Bedford (1766-1838), an English writer and educator who founded the first modern secular school in India.

Other notable individuals with the surname Bedford include:

1. Gunning Bedford, Jr. (1747-1812), an American lawyer and politician from Delaware.
2. Arthur Bedford (1668-1745), an English naturalist and writer on agriculture.
3. John Bedford (1810-1879), an English cricketer who played for Cambridge University and Surrey.
4. Thomas Bedford (1591-1667), an English Protestant minister and author.
5. William Bedford (1773-1852), an English landscape painter and engraver.

Throughout its history, the surname Bedford has been associated with various place names and has had several spelling variations, such as Bedeford, Bedfort, and Bedforde, reflecting the changes in language and regional dialects over time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Bedford

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Bedford.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Bedford was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Bedford has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Bedford was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Bedford, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!