Forde Coat of Arms, Family Crest and Forde Family History

Forde Family History

The ancient origin of the name Forde was found in the irishsurnames.com archives.

Many different spelling variations of the same name can be traced back to a single original root. Also, when a bearer of a name emigrated from Ireland it was not uncommon that their original name would be incorrectly transcribed in the record books upon arrival at their new location. Some names have dozens of spelling variations. Some Surnames were also altered over the years based on how they sounded phonetically, by their sound, and depending on the prevailing political conditions it may have been advantageous to change a name from one language to another. This was especially so in Ireland where most Gaelic names were 'anglicized' at some stage.

Variants of the name Forde include Ford and Foord. This is a locality name meaning 'river crossing' from a person who lived beside a ford. This name is of Anglo-Saxon descent spreading to the Celtic countries of Ireland, Scotland and Wales in early times and is found in many mediaeval manuscripts throughout the above islands. Examples of such are a Richard de la Forde, of Norfolk, England, who was recorded in the 'Hundred Rolls' in the year 1273 and a Thomas de Furd who was presbyter in the diocese of Saint Andrews, Scotland, in the year 1406. A Peter ate Ford, was recorded in the 'Writs of Parliament', in the year 1313 and a Hugh Ford, of Wigan, was recorded in the 'Wills at Chester', in the year 1661. The name is popular throughout the four Provinces of Ireland especially in Counties Galway and Leitrim. The Ford's settled in Ireland with the plantation from England, the most notable of these arriving from Devonshire and were landowners in Meath.The Forde family crest (or coat of arms) came into existence many centuries ago. The process of creating these coats of arms began as early as the eleventh century although a form of Proto-Heraldry may have existed in some countries prior to this, including Ireland. The new more formalized art of Heraldry made it possible for families and even individual family members to have their very own family crest, coat of arms, including Forde descendants.