‘Fordham’ may refer to a river ford, or to a 15th-century English priest.
Jan Arcer, a Dutch settler who anglicised his name to John Archer, chose the name Fordham for his community; the Manor of Fordham lasted from 1671 to 1762. The name may refer to a nearby ford (sources differ on whether on the Bronx or the Harlem River) or to John Fordham, a fifteenth-century English priest. Fordham Road splits into East and West at Jerome Avenue, by this station.