Gereforde, with gar- spellings first appearing in 1336 in the form Garford. The name seems to derive from the Norse words gara ('triangular plot of land', derived from the word gar, 'spear') and ford ('ford)', and thus meant 'ford at a triangular plot of land'. Or perhaps, River Crossing of the Spear.

The plot is thought to have lain at a sharp turn in the road now called The Beck. Spellings beginning with ger- reflect the Old Norse counterpart of Old English gara, geiri,