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Welford
How to Pronounce Welford
Pronounced WEL-ferd /ˈwɛl.fərd/Medium
Meaning: Welford comes from several English place names and the surname drawn from them, meaning the ford by the willows or by a spring, from Old English elements for willow or well and ford, a river crossing.Low
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
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
Welford is a locational English surname from villages of that name, meaning the ford by the willows or by a spring. Carried into first-name use like many -ford surnames, it appeared for American boys only rarely, around 1925.
It was never common, given to only about twenty boys a year at most, and it had faded by the nineteen-eighties. A boy named Welford then would be about a hundred today. It reads as a solid old surname-name rather than a name on the rise.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Welford mean?
It is an English place and surname name meaning the ford by the willows or a spring.
How do you pronounce Welford?
It is said WEL-ferd /ˈwɛl.fərd/, two syllables with the stress on the first.
Is Welford a boy or girl name?
Welford is used as a boys name.
How popular is Welford?
It has always been rare, given to only about twenty boys a year at its peak in the nineteen-twenties.