The LIPFORD surname is English, meaning a dweller near a ford crossed by leaping. (Source: Encyclopedia of American Family Names by Amanda Robb and Andrew Chesler)

Michael Bailey of London, England, a professor at Anderson University in Indiana, has suggested that the name may have come from the surname LIPP who lived near a ford in England. Members of the Von Der Lippe family in Germany immigrated to England, and their name may have been anglicized to Lipp or Lipford.

A Robart 'LIPFOORD' married Mary Marten on October 23, 1578, in Strood, near Rochester, Kent, England. (IGS Parish Registers, 1988 Edition)

Several researchers have "combed through" pages of passenger lists, looking for the Lipford name coming from England to America as immigrants. The name has not been found on any passenger lists, although not all ships were required to list their passengers.

Lipford has been spelled many ways in U. S. records, including Lifford, Lippard, Lippford, Lepford, Lippord, Lipfford, Lipfird, Linpford, Lypford, Lipsford, etc.

Amos Lipford and John Lipford, perhaps brothers, were named in documents from Amelia County, Virginia as early as 1756 when John was listed as a Grantee in a deed and Amos a witness to a deed in 1760. Amos’ name was spelled Lippard on the document. This document concerning John Lipford stated that he was from Dinwiddie County, Virginia. That information, coupled with the Revolutionary War pension application that states Henry S. Lipford, son of Amos Lipford, was born in Dinwiddie County in 1753, places the Lipford brothers in Dinwiddie County between 1753-1756. Dinwiddie County was established May 1, 1752 from Prince George County.

Amos Lipford was married to Frances Traylor, daughter of John Traylor I and wife Mary, and had ten children. Four of his sons, Edward Lipford, Henry S. Lipford, John Traylor Lipford, and Anthony Par Lipford served in the Revolutionary War. Amos Lipford died 1815 in Prince Edward County, Virginia and left a will naming nine of his ten children. His son Edward Lipford was killed in the Revolutionary War in April of 1777, and Amos served as executor of his son’s estate.