Nafford
Early-attested site in the Parish of Birlingham
Historical Forms
- Nadford 1086 DB
- Nasford c.1220 AOMB61 15th
- Nafford 1290 Wigorn
Etymology
The paucity of forms makes this name difficult to interpret.It is impossible to do anything with a first element Nad -, but it is possible that the d is an AN spelling for t (cf. IPN 109, n. 2) and the original OE form may have been Natanford , later Nateford . If this is correct the first element may be the pers. name Nata which can be inferred from OE Natangrafas (BCS 165), now Notgrove (Gl) and Natanleaga (ASC s.a. 508), now Nateley (Ha). Forms like Nategrave in DB and in FA down to 1316 and the whole development of Nateley suggest that the vowel here must be short. The name may be cognate with the OGer names Nat (o ), Nazo found in Förstemann (PN 1154), but if so Förstemann's explanation of these names as allied to ON náð must be rejected. Rather the name must be related to the stem which lies behind OE nett (from năt -).
Professor Ekwall suggests with much probability that the OE name was really nēatford , 'cattle-ford,' v. neat . For the d -form cf. DBStradford for Stratford (PN Bk 49).