Crawford is a surname and a given name of English and Scottish origins.

Origin

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The surname Crawford originates from a locative name,[1] possibly derived from a place name composed of the Old English elements crāwe, Scots Craw ("crow") and ford ("ford").[2] Examples of such place names include: Crawford, South Lanarkshire, Scotland,[3] Crawford, Dorset, England,[4] and Crawford, Lancashire, England.[4] The surname is most probably derived from the Scottish place name.[5][note 1] In some cases, the surname may be a variant of Crowfoot, a surname derived from a nickname.[7]

The surname Crawford corresponds to the Scottish Gaelic MacCreamhain,[8] and the Irish de Cráfort and Mac Crábhagáin.[9]

Early examples of forms of the surname include: John de Crauford, in 1147–1160 (Scotland),[10] Galfridus de Crauford, in 1188–1202 (Scotland), and Nicolaus de Crauford, in 1205 (England).[11]

The given name Crawford, generally a masculine name, is derived from the surname.[12]

Distribution

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As a surname, Crawford is the 289th most common name in Great Britain, with 30,292 bearers. It is most common in South Lanarkshire where it is the 5th most common surname with 3,384 bearers and in Highland where it is the 8th most common surname with 3,394 bearers. Other concentrations include Belfast (25th, 3,328), Greater Manchester (58th, 3,378), Lancashire (327th, 1,852), West Midlands (341st, 1,796) and Essex (374th, 1,722), and Yorkshire.[citation needed] The countries with the highest percentages of Crawford families are Canada, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.[citation needed]

1881 distribution[13]
Country Number Crawford rank Ratio/freq
  Scotland 8,842 68 1: 423
  England 5,794 623 1: 4,207
  Wales 94 993 1: 16,685
  Jersey 12 761 1: 4,324
  Isle of Man 5 1,028 1: 10,854
  Guernsey 2 1,834 1: 16,328
2014 distribution[13]
Country Number Crawford rank Ratio/freq
  United States 181,790 139 1: 1,762
  England 19,633 309 1: 2,750
  Canada 15,512 239 1: 2,284
  Australia 12,918 191 1: 1,824
  Scotland 6,773 77 1: 783
  South Africa 6,721 977 1: 8,035
  New Zealand 3,839 105 1: 1,184
  Northern Ireland 3,422 58 1: 526
  Jamaica 2,284 193 1: 1,190
  Ireland 983 719 1: 4,673

People with the surname Crawford

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People with the given name Crawford

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Fictional characters

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The place name is first recorded as Crauford, in about 1150.[6]

Citations

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References

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  • Black, GF (1971) [1946]. The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning, and History. New York: The New York Public Library. ISBN 0-87104-172-3. OL 8346130M.
  • Cottle, B (1969) [1967]. The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Penguin Reference Books. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-051032-4. OL 22912501M.
  • de Bhulbh, S (1997). Sloinnte na h-Éireann: Irish Surnames. Limerick: Comhar-Chumann Íde Naofa Teo. ISBN 0-9530560-0-7. OL 316008M.
  • Hanks, P; Coates, R; McClure, P, eds. (2016). The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Vol. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-879881-1.
  • Hanks, P; Hardcastle, K; Hodges, F (2006) [1990]. A Dictionary of First Names. Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1.
  • Hanks, P; Hodges, F (1991) [1988]. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-10-211502-8. OL 2044914M.
  • Mark, C (2003). The Gaelic-English Dictionary. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-203-27706-6.
  • Mills, AD (2003) [1991]. A Dictionary of British Place-Names (EPUB). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-852758-6.
  • Reaney, PH (1995). Wilson, RM (ed.). A Dictionary of English Surnames (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-8631464.