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    The surname Stafford

    An Irish place surname, carried by 46,394 people in the United States.

    Pronounced /ˈstæfə(ɹ)d/ 2 syllables Soundex S316 Also a first name

    Stafford: #747 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#10,001Dubon Stafford #747, 46,394 people Stafford: #747 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Stafford #747, 46,394 people
    Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Stafford is more common than 99.5% of them.

    Origin

    Irish origin

    From Old English stæþ (“landing place”) + ford. As a surname, occasionally derived from Irish (see Stocker).

    Stafford is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

    One of 880 Irish surnames on this site.

    Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

    How common it is

    2010 US Census

    There were 46,394 people named Stafford in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 6,655 Americans. That is up 2.3% since 2000, when the Census counted 45,349.

    #747
    rank among US surnames
    46,394
    people in 2010
    16
    per 100,000 Americans
    +2.3%
    change since 2000 (was #689)
    RankSurnamePeople1 in
    #738Barry47,2746,531
    #739Johns47,2466,535
    #740Eaton47,1846,543
    #741Blackwell47,1756,545
    #742Dyer47,1706,545
    #743Prince47,1686,546
    #744MacDonald46,7176,609

    Who is named Stafford

    Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

    79% of people named Stafford identified as white (not Hispanic), 15% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

    • White (not Hispanic) 79%
    • Black (not Hispanic) 15%
    • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
    • Two or more races 2.2%
    • American Indian and Alaska Native 0.9%
    • Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

    Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

    Famous Staffords

    17 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

    • Thomas P. Stafford
      American astronaut (1930–2024)
    • James Stafford
      American Catholic cardinal (born 1932)
    • Jo Stafford
      American singer (1917–2008)
    • Jean Stafford
      American author (1915–1979)
    • Michelle Stafford
      American actress (born 1965)
    • Frederick Stafford
      Austrian actor (1928–1979)
    • Matthew Stafford
      American football player (born 1988)
    • Nancy Stafford
      American actress, speaker, and author (born 1954)
    • Robert Stafford
      American politician (1913–2006)
    • Greg Stafford
      American game designer (1948–2018)
    • Drew Stafford
      American ice hockey player (born 1985)
    • Tom Stafford
      American astronomer (20th century), born 2000

    Notable Staffords come mostly from the United States (14), Austria (1) and Australia (1).

    Spellings and sound-alikes

    Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

    Variant spellings

    • Strafford

    Surnames that sound like Stafford

    Stafford has the Soundex code S316, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code S316.

    Other Irish surnames

    All 880 Irish surnames

    Questions

    Where does the surname Stafford come from?
    From Old English stæþ (“landing place”) + ford. As a surname, occasionally derived from Irish (see Stocker).
    How common is the surname Stafford?
    46,394 people in the United States had the surname Stafford in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 6,655 Americans. It ranked 747th of 162,253 surnames.
    What ethnicity is the surname Stafford?
    In the 2010 Census, 79% of people named Stafford identified as white (not Hispanic), and 15% as Black (not Hispanic).
    Who is the most famous person named Stafford?
    Thomas P. Stafford, American astronaut (1930–2024), followed by James Stafford.
    Where is the surname Stafford most common?
    Wikidata records people named Stafford in the United States, Austria and Australia and 1 other country.
    How do you pronounce Stafford?
    Stafford is /ˈstæfə(ɹ)d/, 2 syllables.
    What type of surname is Stafford?
    Stafford is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
    Is the surname Stafford getting more or less common?
    More common. 45,349 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 46,394 in 2010, up 2.3%.
    What are other spellings of Stafford?
    Strafford.
    Is Stafford also a first name?
    Yes. Stafford is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.