Given name & surname
Stratford
“from the street near the river ford”
Stratford is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “from the street near the river ford.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “from the street near the river 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 1924. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Stratford through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 5
- 5 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1924
- 5 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 1924. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,730 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.
Stratford’s family of names
Stratford has a related form in Strafford. Stratford has a related form in Strafforde. Stratford has a related form in Straford.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Stratford
- Stratford Canning, 1st Viscount Stratford de RedcliffeBritish politician (1786-1880)
- Stratford JohnsBritish actor (1925–2002)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Stratford, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Harwood
“from the hare's forest”
>99% boys
Morley
“woman from the moor” · “from the meadow on the moor”
92% boys · 8% girls
Mansfield
“from the field near the small river”
>99% boys
Sherwood
“from the bright forest”
>99% boys
Boswell
“from the spring near the forest”
>99% boys
Holmes
“from the river island”
>99% boys
Glade
“from the meadow in the C woods” · “from the clearing in the woods”
>99% boys
Ashford
“from the ash-tree ford”
>99% boys