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

Geoffrey, 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 Geoffrey surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Geoffrey in America

Geoffrey is the 57781st most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Geoffrey surname appeared 352 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Geoffrey.

We can also compare 2010 data for Geoffrey 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 Geoffrey

The surname Geoffrey originated in medieval France and Normandy. It is an Anglo-Norman French form of the Germanic name Godfried, which is composed of the elements god, meaning "God", and frid, meaning "peace". The earliest recorded spelling variations include Geffrey, Geffreis, and Geffrays.

Geoffrey is believed to have been introduced to England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. It appears in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book records several individuals with the surname Geoffrey, including Geoffrey de Mandeville, who held lands in Essex and Middlesex.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname Geoffrey is found in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1194, which mention a Richard Geoffrey. In the 13th century, the surname appeared in various English counties, such as Yorkshire, Oxfordshire, and Buckinghamshire.

Notable individuals with the surname Geoffrey throughout history include:

1. Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343 - 1400), the renowned English poet and author of "The Canterbury Tales".
2. Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095 - c. 1155), a British cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularization of the Arthurian legend.
3. Geoffrey de Haville (fl. 1190 - 1195), an English judge and one of the most influential legal scholars of his time.
4. Geoffrey of Anjou (c. 1113 - 1151), Count of Anjou and a prominent figure in the Angevin dynasty.
5. Geoffrey Plantagenet (c. 1151 - 1212), the youngest son of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine.

The surname Geoffrey is also associated with various place names in England, such as Geoffrey's Cross in Herefordshire, Geoffreystone in Monmouthshire, and Geoffreyhayes in Devon. These place names likely derived from individuals with the surname Geoffrey who were landowners or notable figures in those areas.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Geoffrey

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

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 Geoffrey 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 Geoffrey 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 Geoffrey was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

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

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