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I have a name book that says it is English, meaning "axeman's ford"

My Dictionary of English Surnames (Oxford 1997) says:

From Bickford (Staffordshire), Bickford Town in Plympton St Mary (Devonshire) or Beckford Fm in Membury (Devonshire).

Now unfortunately My Dictionary of English Place-Names doesn't have any of these names. But there are similar surnames in the dictionary first mentioned:

BICK (metonymic for BICKER): "beekeeper" (similar: BICKMAN) (from Middle English "bike", nest of wasps, wild bees)
BICKERDIKE: "dweller by the disputed ditch" (from Middle English "bicker")

Andy ;—)