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Ford

Boy name · 45 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Ford: 45 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to boys, peaking at 5 births in 2019.

From its Old English roots, Ford began as a surname for someone living near a shallow river crossing—a “ford”—and later became a rugged, straightforward first name. The most famous bearer is Henry Ford, the industrialist who revolutionised car manufacturing, while novelist and critic Ford Madox Ford (born Hermann Hueffer) brought a literary edge. Places drawing on the same root abound, from the town of Ford in Argyll to countless Fordhams and Fordbridges. One curious cultural note: the name gained modern familiarity through the fictional alien Ford Prefect in Douglas Adams’ *The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy*, though the character himself took his name from a car. As a given name in Scotland, Ford remains uncommon but carries a solid, no-nonsense appeal.