Recent in Baby
When Baby Resists SolidsWhen Baby Resists SolidsBaby Biting TipsBaby Biting Tips5 Tips To Help Prevent Highchair Injuries5 Tips To Help Prevent Highchair InjuriesWhen Baby and Pet MeetWhen Baby and Pet MeetTreatments for ColicTreatments for ColicBaby Milestones – The First YearBaby Milestones – The First YearTips for Relieving Teething PainTips for Relieving Teething PainBenefits of Making Your Own Baby FoodBenefits of Making Your Own Baby Food

Home › Baby Names Directory › Gifford

Gifford

♂ Boy

How to Pronounce Gifford

Pronounced GIF-erd /ˈɡɪf.ɚd/High

Meaning: Gifford is an English surname most often derived from an Anglo-Norman nickname meaning 'chubby-cheeked' or 'bloated', from Old French elements. A minority view links it to Old English 'gift-ford'; carried as a surname, it became a first name in the American surname fashion.Medium

In 30 seconds: Gifford is a surname-turned-first-name, from an old nickname for a 'chubby-cheeked' man (said 'GIF-erd').
💕 Browse more names
Origin MediumEnglish
MeaningGifford is an English surname most often derived from an Anglo-Norman nickname meaning 'chubby-cheeked' or 'bloated', from Old French elements. A minority view links it to Old English 'gift-ford'; carried as a surname, it became a first name in the American surname fashion.
U.S. rank (2017)#11227 ↗ Rising
2017 U.S. births6 boys (0.00% of U.S. boys)
Peak year1920
Total births (all-time)≈ 1,452

Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data

peak 192018912017

U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.

SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.

History & Origin

Gifford is an English surname, usually traced to an Anglo-Norman nickname for a 'chubby-cheeked' or well-fed man. Like many surnames, it stepped forward as a given name in nineteenth-century America.

In the SSA records it belongs to the early cohort, peaking around 1920 and lingering rarely for decades. It reads as a solid, old-fashioned surname name of the same family as Clifford and Radford.

Did you know? Gifford Pinchot, the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, carried the name into the twentieth century as a conservation hero — a rare bearer for whom Gifford was the given, not family, name.
Overall data confidence 65%
References — Gifford — English surname, 'chubby-cheeked' nickname

Variations

GiffardGifferd

Nicknames

GiffFord

Famous Bearers

  • ★Gifford Pinchot (1865–1946)
    American forester and politician, the first chief of the U.S. Forest Service and a governor of Pennsylvania.

If you like Gifford…

Gilford— a near-identical surname name in look and sound
Clifford— a fellow -ford surname used as a first name
Wilford— another vintage -ford men's name
Radford— a like English surname-name of the era

Explore names like Gifford

By themeenglishvintagesurname-name

All themes →All meanings →All origins →

Frequently Asked

What does the name Gifford mean?

Gifford is an English surname name, from a nickname meaning 'chubby-cheeked'.

How do you pronounce Gifford?

It's said GIF-erd /ˈɡɪf.ɚd/ — two syllables, stress on the first.

Is Gifford a boy or girl name?

Gifford is used as a boy's name.

How popular is Gifford?

Gifford is a rare, old-fashioned surname name, most seen in the early twentieth century.

💬 Ask Nia