Family name origins & meanings
- English : probably a habitational name, perhaps from Darnford in Suffolk, Great Durnford in Wiltshire, or Dernford Farm in Sawston, Cambridgeshire, all named from Old English dierne ‘hidden’ + ford ‘ford’.
- Nicholas Danforth, a man of considerable property, emigrated in about 1634 with his children to Cambridge, MA, from Framlingham, Suffolk, England, after the death of his wife Elizabeth. He was elected to various political offices in the colony. His son Thomas (1623–99) was admitted as a freeman in 1643 and was named treasurer of Harvard College in the 1650 charter granted that institution.