Given name & surname
Welford
“well, spring, stream”
Welford is a surname from Old English.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Welford goes back to Old English wella, meaning “well, spring, stream.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Old English wella (“well, spring, stream”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1910. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Welford through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 487
- 487 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1925
- 19 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 1984. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 19 in 1925. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 169 as a first name in 2020; 511 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.
Welford’s family of names
Welford may belong to the same name family as WELLFORD. This is a tentative spelling connection.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Similar names
If you love Welford, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Wolford
“wolf”
>99% boys
Bedford
Bedford is a surname from Middle English, ultimately from Old English.
>99% boys
Belford
“bell; bell-shaped hill”
>99% boys
Wentworth
“winter” · “enclosure”
>99% boys
Woodford
“wood”
>99% boys
Willey
“willow”
>99% boys
Rexford
“from the king's ford”
>99% boys
Walmer
“Welshman” · “lake, sea”
>99% boys