Show ContentsBroadford History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The name Broadford was first used by a Strathclyde-Briton family from the Scottish/English Borderlands. It was a name for a person with wide feet. Tracing the origin of the name further, we found the name Broadford was originally derived from the Old English brad fot, which means broad foot.

Early Origins of the Broadford family

The surname Broadford was first found in Ayrshire (Gaelic: Siorrachd Inbhir Àir), formerly a county in the southwestern Strathclyde region of Scotland, that today makes up the Council Areas of South, East, and North Ayrshire, where they held a family seat from very ancient times, some say well before the Norman Conquest and the arrival of Duke William at Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Early History of the Broadford family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Broadford research. Another 59 words (4 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Broadford History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Broadford Spelling Variations

In the era before dictionaries, there were no rules governing the spelling or translation of names or any other words. Consequently, there are an enormous number of spelling variations in Medieval Scottish names. Broadford has appeared as Broadfoot, Broadford, Bradfute, Braidfoot, Breadfoot, Bredfoot and many more.

Early Notables of the Broadford family

More information is included under the topic Early Broadford Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.


United States Broadford migration to the United States +

The freedom, opportunity, and land of the North American colonies beckoned. There, Scots found a place where they were generally free from persecution and where they could go on to become important players in the birth of new nations. Some fought in the American War of Independence, while others went north to Canada as United Empire Loyalists. The ancestors of all of these Scottish settlers have been able to recover their lost national heritage in the last century through highland games and Clan societies in North America. Among them:

Broadford Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • William Broadford, who arrived in New York NY in 1822

Contemporary Notables of the name Broadford (post 1700) +

  • Linda Broadford, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Massachusetts, 2000, 2004 1


  1. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, October 23) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html


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