Duffy
Of Irish origin, likely referring to someone with dark complexion or hair.
Name Census estimates that about 452 living Americans carry the first name Duffy. It is a predominantly male name (97.5% of registrations). The average person named Duffy today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Duffy births was 1961 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Duffy. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
452
~ 1 in 758,306 Americans
Peak year
1961
26 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2012 SSA rank
#7,323
Tracked since 1915
Gender
Gender distribution for Duffy
Duffy leans heavily male at 97.5% of total registrations, but 16 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Duffy as a male name
- Ranked #12,790 in 2012
- 5 male births in 2012
- Peak: 1969 (22 births)
Duffy as a female name
- Ranked #7,323 in 1970
- 6 female births in 1970
- Peak: 1970 (6 births)
Popularity
Duffy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Duffy from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 141 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Duffy by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Duffy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Duffys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Duffy
Duffy is a given name with origins that can be traced back to the Gaelic language and culture in Ireland. It is believed to have derived from the Irish surname Ó Dubhthaigh, which means "descendant of Dubhthach," where "dubh" means "black" and "thach" is a personal name meaning "having fertile land."
The name Duffy first appeared in ancient Irish genealogical records and manuscripts dating back to the 10th century. It was primarily used as a surname by families residing in the counties of Monaghan, Cavan, and Louth in the northern part of Ireland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Duffy as a given name can be found in the 12th-century Irish text "The Annals of Ulster," which mentions a man named Duffy O'Mulholland. However, it was not until the late 16th and 17th centuries that the name gained wider popularity as a first name.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Duffy. One of the most famous was Patrick Duffy (1816-1885), an Irish Catholic prelate who served as the Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn in Australia from 1862 until his death.
Another prominent figure was Sir Charles Gavan Duffy (1816-1903), an Irish-Australian politician, novelist, and journalist who played a crucial role in the Australian colony of Victoria's struggle for self-governance and later became the 8th Premier of Victoria in 1871.
In the realm of literature, the name Duffy is associated with Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955), a renowned Scottish poet and playwright who served as the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 2009 to 2019.
In the world of music, Duffy (born 1984) is the stage name of Welsh singer-songwriter Aimee Anne Duffy, who rose to fame in 2008 with her debut album "Rockferry" and won three BRIT Awards and a Grammy Award.
Finally, in sports, Duffy Daugherty (1915-1987) was an American football player and coach who led Michigan State University's football team to two national championships in the 1960s and is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the program.
People
Duffy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Duffy as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Duffy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Duffy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 452 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Duffy going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 758,306 US residents.
Is Duffy a common name?
We classify Duffy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 643 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Duffy most popular?
The single biggest year for Duffy was 1961, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Duffy is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Duffy a male name?
Yes, 97.5% of people registered as Duffy in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.