Fordham Road is named after Fordham, the 17th-century manor of John Archer.
In 1671 Governor Francis Lovelace granted 3,900 acres between the Harlem and Bronx Rivers to the Dutch settler Jan Arcer, who anglicised his name to John Archer; his manor lasted until 1762. According to NYC Parks, Fordham means ‘houses by the ford (or wading place)’, though sources disagree on which ford. Another theory points to John Fordham, a 15th-century English priest.