Ashford is an English habitational surname from any of several places called Ashford.
Those in Essex, Devon, Derbyshire, and Shropshire are named from Old English æsc ‘ash’ + ford ‘ford’.
One in Surrey is first recorded in 969 as Ecelesford, probably from a personal name Eccel, a diminutive of ecca ‘edge (of a sword)’ + ford.
The one in Kent is from æscet ‘clump of ash trees’ + ford.
[1] Notable people with the surname include: