Bradford Surname

5,864th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 96,234 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
United States
Highest density in:
Montserrat

Bradford Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Bradford,' parishes in West Riding of Yorks, Wilts, Dorset, Soms., and Devon. Also two townships in Northumberland, and a township, now a suburb, of Manchester. The 'broad ford' would naturally be familiar to many places.

Read More About This Surname

Bradford Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States72,7251:4,984549
England10,2751:5,423756
Australia5,1861:5,205752
Canada2,8781:12,8021,889
Scotland7091:7,5511,147
South Africa5201:104,18812,601
Jamaica4471:6,420800
New Zealand4391:10,3151,790
Northern Ireland4271:4,321849
Wales3381:9,1551,012
Ghana2771:97,5489,187
Guyana2231:3,418629
Nigeria1591:1,114,10545,936
Saudi Arabia1591:194,06229,524
Egypt1531:600,88732,813
Ireland1461:32,2532,764
Thailand1311:539,22492,925
Portugal1131:92,1974,545
Uruguay701:49,0255,488
Brazil581:3,690,937102,732
Nicaragua561:107,5191,941
Germany551:1,463,73689,144
Colombia541:884,7058,792
Argentina511:838,10654,910
Dominican Republic461:226,8038,136
Kuwait391:97,45410,676
United Arab Emirates361:254,50817,423
Spain331:1,416,72844,772
Ecuador321:497,05810,858
Sweden271:364,69525,646
France261:2,554,720189,486
Chile241:734,02016,565
China191:71,964,2933,948
Singapore171:323,98313,856
Zimbabwe171:908,13259,260
India161:47,941,586492,263
Honduras131:678,1883,875
Mexico131:9,548,17038,962
Philippines131:7,787,556197,164
Hong Kong111:666,8623,581
Japan111:11,622,20845,659
Denmark91:627,19136,734
Panama91:434,6958,518
Qatar91:262,00030,726
Swaziland91:144,244719
Switzerland91:912,54658,198
Estonia81:165,22626,217
Russia81:18,015,382436,635
Malaysia71:4,213,461150,293
Antigua and Barbuda61:16,5281,436
Netherlands61:2,814,529101,176
Afghanistan51:6,430,63727,710
Costa Rica51:956,0146,058
United States Virgin Islands51:22,0752,767
Czechia41:2,658,367127,801
Indonesia41:33,062,298643,618
Norway41:1,285,57269,185
Turkey41:19,455,356155,681
Vanuatu41:65,8191,151
Bulgaria31:2,326,30254,089
Israel31:2,852,545113,505
Italy31:20,385,563143,117
Jersey31:33,0674,675
South Korea31:17,080,0852,793
Venezuela31:10,068,02660,591
Belgium21:5,748,322130,559
Georgia21:1,872,77235,618
Greece21:5,539,895129,142
Isle of Man21:42,9113,686
Ivory Coast21:11,535,61661,806
Kenya21:23,089,95083,168
Montserrat21:2,474299
Oman21:1,843,9869,590
Papua New Guinea21:4,076,858165,791
Solomon Islands21:290,01419,875
Uganda21:19,519,640189,114
Zambia21:7,924,96145,994
Albania11:2,914,05529,474
Austria11:8,515,435118,036
Barbados11:287,4482,772
Belarus11:9,501,059159,228
Bermuda11:65,2793,010
British Virgin Islands11:31,5941,029
Cambodia11:15,487,14614,824
Cameroon11:20,769,068227,406
Cyprus11:884,87613,055
East Timor11:1,215,928507
Gibraltar11:33,9541,660
Guam11:160,1214,893
Guernsey11:64,4392,137
Haiti11:10,683,90724,607
Hungary11:9,816,27773,288
Iraq11:35,021,65431,813
Jordan11:8,842,43726,010
Kazakhstan11:17,682,496204,010
Latvia11:2,050,04660,295
Lebanon11:5,637,08332,436
Luxembourg11:580,54215,155
Macau11:601,6301,582
Malawi11:17,119,10934,144
Mauritius11:1,293,41716,552
Morocco11:34,476,099111,471
Pakistan11:178,643,885213,220
Poland11:38,008,749231,653
Romania11:20,077,87089,414
Saint Lucia11:178,7813,800
Taiwan11:23,444,74693,622
Tanzania11:52,941,613123,716
Tonga11:107,313791
Trinidad and Tobago11:1,363,97522,013
Ukraine11:45,522,696503,646
Yemen11:26,425,29455,147
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Ireland4101:10,8051,530
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England5,5261:4,411664
Scotland1991:18,8101,925
Wales961:16,338975
Isle of Man61:9,045877
Jersey51:10,3761,795
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States13,4951:3,721449

Bradford (30,577) may also be a first name.

Bradford Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from a geographical locality. 'of Bradford,' parishes in West Riding of Yorks, Wilts, Dorset, Soms., and Devon. Also two townships in Northumberland, and a township, now a suburb, of Manchester. The 'broad ford' would naturally be familiar to many places.

Alexander de Bradeford, Northumberland, 1197: Hodgson's History of Northumberland.

Hugh de Bradeford, Devon, 1273. Hundred Rolls.

John de Bradeford, Wiltshire, ibid.

Alex, de Bradeford, Northumberland, ibid.

Johanna Bradford, Somerset, 1 Edward III: Kirby's Quest.

Johannes de Bradeford, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1788. Married — John Bradford and Susannah Wyberd: St. George, Hanover Square.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

(English) belonging to Bradford = the Broad Ford [Old English brád + ford]

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

(English) One who came from Bradford (wide ford), the name of various places in England.

Dictionary of American Family Names (1956) by Elsdon Coles Smith

A great town of Yorkshire, and places in cos. Devon, Lancaster, Northumb., Stalford, Somerset, &c.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

Local. A town on the Avon, in Wiltshire, England, whence the surname is derived, and which signifies the broad ford, there being at that place a ford across the Avon.

An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names (1857) by William Arthur

Bradford Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Bradford Come From? nationality or country of origin

The surname Bradford (Arabic: برادفورد, Russian: Брадфорд) has its highest incidence in The United States. It may appear in the variant forms:. Click here for other potential spellings of this last name.

How Common Is The Last Name Bradford? popularity and diffusion

The last name Bradford is the 5,864th most widely held surname world-wide. It is borne by around 1 in 75,727 people. The surname Bradford is primarily found in The Americas, where 80 percent of Bradford live; 78 percent live in North America and 78 percent live in Anglo-North America. Bradford is also the 27,500th most prevalent given name on earth, held by 30,577 people.

Bradford is most frequently occurring in The United States, where it is carried by 72,725 people, or 1 in 4,984. In The United States Bradford is primarily concentrated in: Texas, where 12 percent reside, California, where 9 percent reside and Georgia, where 7 percent reside. Beside The United States this surname is found in 111 countries. It is also found in England, where 11 percent reside and Australia, where 5 percent reside.

Bradford Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The frequency of Bradford has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people bearing the Bradford last name increased 539 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it increased 186 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Scotland it increased 356 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Wales it increased 352 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Ireland it contracted 64 percent between 1901 and 2014.

Bradford Last Name Statistics demography

The religious devotion of those holding the surname is principally Presbyterian (45%) in Ireland.

In The United States those holding the Bradford surname are 12.28% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than the national average, with 59.05% registered with the party.

The amount Bradford earn in different countries varies greatly. In Norway they earn 37.96% more than the national average, earning 477,454 kr per year; in South Africa they earn 49.66% more than the national average, earning R 355,656 per year; in Colombia they earn 15.51% less than the national average, earning $19,180,600 COP per year; in United States they earn 5.38% less than the national average, earning $40,828 USD per year and in Canada they earn 2.21% more than the national average, earning $50,783 CAD per year.

Phonetically Similar Names

Bradford Name Transliterations

TransliterationICU LatinPercentage of Incidence
Bradford in the Russian language
Брадфордbradford-
Bradford in the Arabic language
برادفوردbradfwrd-

Search for Another Surname

Bradford Reference & Research

Bradford FamilyTree DNA Group - A group collating DNA test results for those who bear the surname, includes results of DNA tests and discussions.

Bradford FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

Braidwood FamilyTree DNA Project - A description of a group researching the paternal lines of men who bear the surname with the help of DNA analysis.

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Bradford
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis