Clifford : 1: English and Irish: habitational name from any of various places called Clifford in Devon Gloucestershire and Yorkshire and in particular Herefordshire. The placename is derived from Old English clif ‘slope’ + ford ‘ford’.2: Irish: adoption of the name in 1 above as Anglicization of several Irish names especially Ó Clúmháin ‘descendant of Clúmhán’ which was the surname of an ecclesiastical family in Sligo and can be traced back to the 12th century. The personal name meant ‘little hairy one’ a diminutive of Irish clúmach ‘hairy’ from clúmh ‘feathers plumage down; hair or fur’. Clifford was also adopted for Coleman and in Fermanagh for Crifferty Clifferty and Cliffordy which are Anglicized forms of Mac Raibheartaigh (compare Rafferty).
Source : DAFN2 : Dictionary of American Family Names 2nd edition, ©2022 by Patrick Hanks and Oxford University Press
FANBI : The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain, ©2021, University of the West of England
ncG1vNJzZmidnmO0prrEmqWerF6kv6h70q6pp5mdmsBwj6uCfX%2BHgnk%3D