Crawford is a surname and a given name of English and Scottish origins.
The surname Crawford originates from a locative name,[1] possibly derived from a place name composed of the Old English elements crāwe, Scots Craw ("crow") and ford ("ford").[2] Examples of such place names include: Crawford, South Lanarkshire, Scotland,[3] Crawford, Dorset, England,[4] and Crawford, Lancashire, England.[4] The surname is most probably derived from the Scottish place name.[5][note 1] In some cases, the surname may be a variant of Crowfoot, a surname derived from a nickname.[7]
The surname Crawford corresponds to the Scottish Gaelic MacCreamhain,[8] and the Irish de Cráfort and Mac Crábhagáin.[9]
Early examples of forms of the surname include: John de Crauford, in 1147–1160 (Scotland),[10] Galfridus de Crauford, in 1188–1202 (Scotland), and Nicolaus de Crauford, in 1205 (England).[11]
The given name Crawford, generally a masculine name, is derived from the surname.[12]
As a surname, Crawford is the 289th most common name in Great Britain, with 30,292 bearers. It is most common in South Lanarkshire where it is the 5th most common surname with 3,384 bearers and in Highland where it is the 8th most common surname with 3,394 bearers. Other concentrations include Belfast (25th, 3,328), Greater Manchester (58th, 3,378), Lancashire (327th, 1,852), West Midlands (341st, 1,796) and Essex (374th, 1,722), and Yorkshire.[citation needed] The countries with the highest percentages of Crawford families are Canada, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.[citation needed]
1881 distribution[13] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Country | Number | Crawford rank | Ratio/freq | |
Scotland | 8,842 | 68 | 1: 423 | |
England | 5,794 | 623 | 1: 4,207 | |
Wales | 94 | 993 | 1: 16,685 | |
Jersey | 12 | 761 | 1: 4,324 | |
Isle of Man | 5 | 1,028 | 1: 10,854 | |
Guernsey | 2 | 1,834 | 1: 16,328 |
2014 distribution[13] | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Country | Number | Crawford rank | Ratio/freq | |
United States | 181,790 | 139 | 1: 1,762 | |
England | 19,633 | 309 | 1: 2,750 | |
Canada | 15,512 | 239 | 1: 2,284 | |
Australia | 12,918 | 191 | 1: 1,824 | |
Scotland | 6,773 | 77 | 1: 783 | |
South Africa | 6,721 | 977 | 1: 8,035 | |
New Zealand | 3,839 | 105 | 1: 1,184 | |
Northern Ireland | 3,422 | 58 | 1: 526 | |
Jamaica | 2,284 | 193 | 1: 1,190 | |
Ireland | 983 | 719 | 1: 4,673 |