Redford
Red ford; a compound name combining "red", meaning the ruddy color, and "ford", meaning a shallow river crossing.
Name Census estimates that about 187 living Americans carry the first name Redford. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Redford today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Redford births was 2017 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Redford. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Redford with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
187
~ 1 in 1,832,911 Americans
Peak year
2017
20 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,821
Tracked since 1913
Census
Redford in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 189 people with the first name Redford, which placed it at #39,747 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#39,747
National first-name rank
People counted
189
189 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Redford
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Redford is White at 72.0%. The next largest groups are Black (7.9%) and Hispanic (7.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Redford described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Redford at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.0% · 136
- Black or African American7.9% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.9% · 13
- Two or more races4.8% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 2
Popularity
Redford: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Redford from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 98 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Redford remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Redford by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Redford during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Redfords live
Origin
Meaning and history of Redford
The name Redford has its origins in Old English, dating back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain. It is a locational surname, derived from the place name Redford, which means "red ford" or "red river crossing." This name likely referred to a settlement located near a ford or shallow river crossing with reddish-colored soil or water.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Redford can be traced back to the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as a place name in various counties across England. It is believed that the name was originally used as a descriptive term for those who lived near such a location before evolving into a hereditary surname.
In the Middle Ages, the name Redford was predominantly found in the counties of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Yorkshire, suggesting that these areas were home to some of the earliest bearers of this name. During this period, the name was sometimes spelled differently, such as Redeford or Raedford, reflecting the variations in regional dialects and orthography.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Redford was Sir Robert Redford, a 14th-century English knight who served under King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War. He was mentioned in historical records for his participation in the Battle of Crécy in 1346.
Another notable figure was John Redford, a 16th-century English composer and organist who served in the Chapel Royal during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI. He was renowned for his contributions to the development of English sacred music during the Renaissance period.
In the 17th century, a prominent bearer of the name was William Redford, an English Puritan minister and author who wrote several influential theological works, including "The Christian's Manual" and "The Divine Practice of Piety."
During the American Revolutionary War, a soldier named Daniel Redford fought in the Continental Army and is recorded as having participated in the Battle of Monmouth in 1778.
In the 19th century, a notable figure with the name Redford was George Redford, an English architect and surveyor who designed several notable buildings in London, including the Royal Polytechnic Institution and the Church of St. Michael in Pimlico.
While the name Redford has a rich history, it is important to note that these examples are based on historical records and may not be exhaustive. The name's usage and popularity have likely fluctuated over time, reflecting the cultural and linguistic changes that have shaped the English language and its naming traditions.
People
Redford + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Redford as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Redford: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Redford?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 187 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Redford going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,832,911 US residents.
Is Redford a common name?
We classify Redford as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 202 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Redford most popular?
The single biggest year for Redford was 2017, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Redford is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Redford in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 189 people with the name Redford, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,747 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Redford in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Redford?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Redford leans strongly male. 185 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 2 female bearers (1.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Redford?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Redford is White at 72.0%. The next largest groups are Black (7.9%) and Hispanic (7.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Redford most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Redford in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.0% (136 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Redford in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Redford a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Redford in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Redford still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Redford in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Redford can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Redford as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.