Find out how popular the last name Cuffee is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Cuffee.

Cuffee, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Cuffee surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Cuffee in America

Cuffee is the 15938th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Cuffee surname appeared 1,823 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Cuffee.

We can also compare 2010 data for Cuffee to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Cuffee

The surname Cuffee is of African origin, derived from the word "Kofi" which means "born on Friday" in the Akan language spoken in Ghana and other parts of West Africa. It is believed to have originated as a name given to children born on that day of the week.

The name first appeared in records of enslaved Africans brought to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade. One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Cuffee was in the 1790 census of Massachusetts, where a free Black man named Paul Cuffee was listed as a resident of Westport.

Paul Cuffee (1759-1817) was a prominent businessman, sea captain, and activist who played a significant role in the early abolitionist movement. He was one of the wealthiest people of color in the United States at the time, and used his wealth to support the resettlement of free African Americans in Africa.

Another notable figure with the surname Cuffee was John Cuffee (1768-1835), a successful merchant and ship owner from Westport, Massachusetts. He was one of the first African Americans to engage in the transoceanic trade, establishing business connections in the West Indies and Europe.

In the 19th century, the Cuffee surname appeared in various records related to free African American communities in New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. For instance, Sengbe Pieh Cuffee (c. 1805-1875) was a freed slave who became a leader in the Black community of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and worked to support the education of African American children.

William Cuffee (c. 1809-1878), born in Philadelphia, was a prominent abolitionist and activist who advocated for the rights of African Americans in the decades leading up to the Civil War. He was also involved in the Underground Railroad, helping enslaved people escape to freedom.

While the surname Cuffee originated in West Africa, it has become associated with the history and struggle of African Americans in the United States, particularly in the context of the abolitionist movement and the fight for racial equality.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Cuffee

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Cuffee.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Cuffee was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Cuffee has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Cuffee was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Cuffee, please contact us.

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