Sommerforde is a name whose history is connected to the ancient Anglo-Saxon tribes of Britain. The name is derived from when the Sommerforde family once lived in the small English town of Somerford found in the county of Wiltshire.
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Early Origins of the Sommerforde family
The surname Sommerforde was first found in Wiltshire where there is a Great Somerford and Little Somerford. Both date back to 937 when they were listed simply as Sumerford. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, the village was listed as Sumreford. The placename literally means "ford usable in the summer," from the Old English sumor + ford. 1 Somerford Keynes is located in Gloucestershire and that locale dates back further to 685 when it was listed as Sumerford.
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Early History of the Sommerforde family
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Sommerforde research. Another 71 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Sommerforde History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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Sommerforde Spelling Variations
Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Sommerforde family name include Somerford, Somerfield and others.
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Early Notables of the Sommerforde family
More information is included under the topic Early Sommerforde Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
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Migration of the Sommerforde family
For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Sommerforde surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Geoffrey Somerford who settled in Virginia in 1654.
England
