Given name & surname
Crawford
“from the crow's ford”
Crawford is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the crow's ford.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the crow's ford.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Crawford through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 4,766
- 4,710 boys · 56 girls
- Most popular year
- 1924
- 88 babies
- 2025
- 78
- #2,097 for boys · #11,158 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +7%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 70 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 2,097 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 4.9% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 88 in 1924. It also appeared in 8 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (18). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 2,113 as a first name in 2020; 159,143 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Crawford’s family of names
Crawford has a related form in Crawferd. Crawford has a related form in Crawferde. Crawford has a related form in Crawforde.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Crawford
- Crawford LongAmerican physician (1815–1878)
- Crawford PalmerFrench-American basketball playerborn 1970
- C. B. MacphersonCanadian political scientist (1911-1987)
- Crawford Howell ToyAmerican biblical and Hebrew scholar (1836–1919)
- C. Gardner SullivanAmerican screenwriter (1884–1965)
- Crawford GreenewaltAmerican chemical engineer (1902–1993)
- Norval WhiteAmerican architect1926–2009
- C. S. HollingCanadian ecologist (1930-2019)
- Crawford WilsonAmerican actorborn 1989
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Crawford, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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