The name Godfrey originated in the Germanic languages and cultures. It is an Old German name derived from the words "god" and "fri," meaning "peace of God." The earliest recorded spelling was "Godefrith" in the 8th century.

Godfrey was a popular name among the Frankish nobility during the Middle Ages. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Godfrey of Bouillon (c. 1060-1100), a French nobleman who was one of the leaders of the First Crusade. He became the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem after the successful conquest of the Holy Land.

Another notable Godfrey from medieval times was Godfrey the Hunchback (c. 1060-1107), Duke of Lower Lorraine. He played a significant role in the Investiture Controversy between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope.

In the 13th century, Godfrey of Viterbo (c. 1120-1191) was an Italian chronicler and historian who wrote about the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy.

During the Renaissance, Godfrey (or Gottfried) of Strasbourg (c. 1165-c. 1215) was a German poet who wrote the famous courtly romance Tristan and Isolde.

In the 17th century, Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1723) was a prominent German-born painter who worked in England and became the leading court painter under several monarchs.

Moving into more recent history, Godfrey Hounsfield (1919-2004) was a British electrical engineer who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his pioneering work in developing the computed tomography (CT) scanner.