Gifford

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A surname of English and Scottish origin borne by many people ; a small village in East Lothian, Scotland, near the Lammermuir Hills
2. A family name found in England and Scotland ; a small rural village in the East Lothian region of Scotland
3. A surname common in Britain and elsewhere ; the name of a settlement in East Lothian, southeast Scotland

Etymology: Gifford is a surname rather than a common word, and it has two separate origins that happen to produce the same spelling. The first is a place-based name. It comes from Broughton Gifford, a village in Wiltshire, England, whose name combines the Old English personal name Gydda, the suffix "-ing" meaning "belonging to," and "ford," a shallow crossing of a river. People who lived in or came from that village were identified by it, so the name literally means something like "from the crossing of Gydda's people." The second origin lies across the Channel. Old French had a word "giffard" meaning "chubby-cheeked" or "bloated," and it may have been a nickname for a large eater. Medieval surnames were often rough descriptions of appearance or habit, and this one carried a comic edge. Which of the two origins applies to any particular family is usually impossible to tell from the name alone.