Bufford
Masculine
Bufford is Buford with a second f, an old Southern first name taken from a surname. Buford carries real weight in American history, and the doubled letter is the only thing this spelling changes about it.
How old is the name Bufford?
Bufford first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Bufford alive today was born around 1934, making them about 91 years old. About 100 people named Bufford are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bufford most popular?
Bufford peaked in 1936, reaching #1723 nationally. See the whole 1936 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Buford (surname) to Bufford
Our story of Bufford
Our story of Bufford begins with the surname it copies. On the first morning at Gettysburg in July 1863, the Union cavalry general John Buford dismounted his troopers on the ridges west of the town and held them against a much larger Confederate advance, buying the hours the Union army needed to reach the high ground to the south. Buford became a surname with that memory in it, and like many Southern surnames it passed into first names. Bufford is that first name with one more letter, written down in a family ledger and carried forward.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Bufford is a spelling of Buford, a surname that became a first name in the American South. Where the surname itself began has not been settled, and nothing is recorded about the doubled f.
How the name formed
- Bufordsurname
- Bufordfirst name
- Bufford
Pronouncing Bufford
BYOO-ferd
Said like Buford. The double f can lead a reader to BUFF-erd, so the intended sound is worth giving along with the spelling.
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 192818 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1723reached in 1936
- Change vs 1967
- −28.6%5 in 1968, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Buffords among us
people named Bufford are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Bufford sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Carries the sound of Buford, a surname with a specific place in American history.
- Two syllables and a firm first stress make it easy to call across a yard.
- Almost no one else carries it, so it will not be shared with a classmate.
- Nearly everyone will spell it Buford, so the second f will need pointing out on forms for life.
- The doubled f makes some readers say BUFF-erd, with the word buff at the front.
- Buford has a comic sheriff in its pop-culture past, Jackie Gleason's Buford T. Justice in Smokey and the Bandit, and the association reaches this spelling too; it is an old joke and a friendly one.
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Bufford
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Buffords are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Bufford are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bufford in 2025?
- Bufford is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Bufford with classmates?
- Bufford will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Brian#339 · Benjamin#11 · Brandon#261 · Bryan#336 · Bruce#536 · Billy#1068 · Bobby#1097 · Bradley#403
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bufford? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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