Gilford is a surname of English origin with secondary Irish origins from Ulster County Down or derived from Guildford, in Surrey.
The name was first recorded as "Gyldeford" in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, circa 800 AD, "Guldeford" in the Domesday Book of 1086, and "Geldeford" in the Pipe rolls between 1130 and 1156. The place name means "the ford where golden flowers grow", from the old English elements "gylde", which is a derivative of "gold", and "ford". While primarily recognized as an English locational surname derived from Guildford in Surrey, the surname Gilford also possesses distinct regional origins within Ireland. In Ulster, the name functions as a locational surname linked to the town of Gilford, County Down, which was established in the 17th century by Captain John Magill and historically named after "Magill's ford". Additionally, historical Irish genealogical records demonstrate that the surname emerged independently through the phonetic anglicisation of native Gaelic names. Surnames incorporating the prefix Mac Giolla (meaning "son of the servant") or variations like Mac Gafraidh (McCaffrey) were occasionally modified by administrative clerks into phonetically similar English variants, such as Gilford and Gifford.
Notable people with the surname include:
Darren Gilford (born 1982), Maltese sprinter David Gilford (born 1965), English golfer Dorothy M. Gilford, American statistician Gwynne Gilford (born 1946), American actress Hastings Gilford (1861–1941), English surgeon Jack Gilford (1908–1990), American actor Madeline Lee Gilford (1923–2008), American actress Yvonne Gilford (c.1941–1996), Australian nurse murdered in Saudi Arabia Zach Gilford (born 1982), American actor
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