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

Medford, 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 Medford surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Medford in America

Medford is the 8089th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Medford surname appeared 4,099 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 Medford.

We can also compare 2010 data for Medford 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 Medford

The surname Medford has its origins in England, dating back to the medieval period. It is a locational name, derived from the town of Medford, located in the county of Staffordshire. The name Medford itself is derived from the Old English words "mæd" meaning meadow and "ford" meaning a shallow river crossing.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Medford can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landowners commissioned by William the Conqueror after the Norman conquest of England. The name is listed as "Medeford" in this historical document, referring to the town in Staffordshire.

In the 13th century, a man named Robert de Medford was recorded as a landowner in the village of Medford, suggesting that the surname was already in use during that time period. Another early reference to the name can be found in the Hundred Rolls of 1274-1275, which were records of landowners and tenants in various counties of England.

One of the notable individuals bearing the surname Medford was Sir John Medford (c. 1460-1534), who served as a Member of Parliament for the borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme during the reign of Henry VIII. He was also a prominent figure in the local government of Staffordshire.

Another individual of note was William Medford (1587-1657), who was a English clergyman and academic. He served as the Provost of Eton College from 1644 until his death in 1657.

In the 17th century, a man named Thomas Medford (1622-1689) was a prominent merchant and landowner in the city of Bristol. He was also involved in the local government and served as a Sheriff of Bristol.

Moving into the 18th century, there was a wealthy landowner named Edward Medford (1704-1782) who owned several estates in the county of Shropshire. He was also a Justice of the Peace and served as the High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1745.

Finally, in the 19th century, a notable figure with the surname Medford was Sir John Medford (1828-1901), who was a British diplomat and politician. He served as the Governor of the Bahamas from 1879 to 1884 and was later appointed as the Governor of the Windward Islands from 1888 to 1892.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Medford

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

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

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

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