Ashford (surname)

Ashford is an English habitational surname from any of several places called Ashford. Those in Essex, Devon, Derbyshire, Shropshire and Kent are named from Old English æsc ‘ash’ + ford ‘ford’.

One in Surrey is first recorded in 969 as Ecelesford, probably from a personal name Eccel, a diminutive of ecca ‘edge (of a sword)’ + ford. The one in Kent is from æscet ‘clump of ash trees’ + ford.

Notable people with the surname include:

• Agnes Ashford, evangelist
• Alan Ashford, cricketer
• Annaleigh Ashford, actress
• Bailey Ashford, tropical medicine physician
• Brad Ashford (1949–2022), American politician
• Christopher Ashford, wrestler
• Daisy Ashford (1881–1972), writer
• Daniel F. Ashford, politician
• David Ashford, politician
• Emmett Ashford, Major League Baseball umpire
• Evelyn Ashford, athlete
• Frederick Ashford, athlete
• John Ashford, theatre director
• Lindsay Ashford, writer
• Mary Ashford, murder victim
• Matthew Ashford, actor
• Michelle Ashford (born 1960), American screenwriter and film producer
• Nellie Ashford, American visual artist
• Nickolas Ashford (1941–2011), American singer, songwriter and producer
• Rob Ashford, American stage director and choreographer
• Robert Ashford, law professor
• Rosalind Ashford (born 1943), American singer with Martha and the Vandellas
• Ryan Ashford, English footballer
• Shorty Ashford, American country singer
• Thomas Ashford (1859–1913), English recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Tucker Ashford, baseball player
• Volney Ashford, football coach
• William Ashford, painter
• William George Ashford (1874–1925), Australian politician

Fictional characters

• Alfred, Alexia and Alexander Ashford in the video game '
• Angela Ashford, in the Resident Evil movie series
• Milly Ashford, in Sunrise's anime Code Geass
• Klaes Ashford - Belter pirate and captain of the Behemoth in The Expanse (TV series)