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

Halford, 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 Halford surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Halford in America

Halford is the 9712th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Halford surname appeared 3,340 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Halford.

We can also compare 2010 data for Halford 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 Halford

The surname Halford is of English origin, and it is believed to have originated in the medieval period. The name is derived from a place name, specifically Halford, a village in Shropshire, England. The place name itself is composed of two Old English elements: "halh," meaning a remote meadow or nook of land, and "ford," referring to a shallow river crossing.

One of the earliest recorded mentions of the Halford surname can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of landowners and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The entry for Halford in the Domesday Book suggests that the name was already well-established in that region by the late 11th century.

During the Middle Ages, the Halford family held significant landholdings in Shropshire and neighboring counties. In the 13th century, a Richard de Halford was recorded as a landowner in the area, indicating the family's prominence at that time.

In the 16th century, a notable figure bearing the Halford surname was Sir Richard Halford (c. 1510-1580), who served as a member of the Privy Council under Queen Elizabeth I. He was also appointed the Lieutenant of the Tower of London in 1570.

Another prominent individual with the Halford surname was Sir Henry Halford (1766-1844), a renowned physician who served as the President of the Royal College of Physicians. He was also the personal physician to King George III and other members of the British royal family.

In the 19th century, Sir Henry St. John Halford (1828-1897) was a distinguished English judge and legal scholar. He served as the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain from 1885 to 1886 and was also appointed as a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary.

The surname Halford has also been associated with various place names throughout England, such as Halford Bridge in Warwickshire, Halford Bury in Oxfordshire, and Halford Village in Shropshire, further reflecting the historical ties of the name to specific locations.

It is worth noting that variations in spelling, such as Halforde, Hallforde, and Hallford, were common in earlier centuries due to the inconsistencies in record-keeping and orthographic conventions at the time.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Halford

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

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 Halford 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 Halford 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 Halford was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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