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

Jeff, 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 Jeff surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jeff in America

Jeff is the 25115th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jeff surname appeared 988 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 Jeff.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jeff 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 Jeff

The surname JEFF has its origins in England, with its earliest recorded examples dating back to the 13th century. It is believed to have derived from the Old French personal name "Geoffroy," which itself originated from the Germanic name "Gelffrid" or "Gelfrid." This name is composed of the elements "gel" (meaning "pledge" or "hostage") and "frid" (meaning "peace").

One of the earliest recorded instances of the surname JEFF appears in the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which lists a John Geffrey residing in Oxfordshire. The surname was also found in other medieval records such as the Subsidy Rolls of Worcestershire from 1327, where a Thomas Geffrey is mentioned.

The JEFF surname has strong ties to place names in England, particularly in the counties of Worcestershire and Warwickshire. For instance, the village of Jeffries Bank in Worcestershire is thought to have been named after an early bearer of the JEFF surname.

In the late 16th century, the JEFF surname appeared in the Parish Registers of St. Mary's Church in Warwick, where a marriage between Thomas Jeff and Anne Hunte was recorded in 1592. Another notable early bearer of the JEFF surname was William Jeff, born in Warwickshire in 1637, who later migrated to Virginia in the American colonies.

Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the surname JEFF. One such person was Sir Geoffrey de Jeffrey (1309-1378), a prominent English knight and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. Another was Sir John Jeffreys (1617-1720), an English judge and Chief Justice of the King's Bench under King James II.

In the realm of literature, the English poet and dramatist Samuel Jeffery (1618-1654) is remembered for his works such as "The Renegado, or The Gentleman of Venice" and "The Bastard." Meanwhile, in the field of science, the British botanist and horticulturist John Jeffreys (1699-1766) made significant contributions to the study of plants.

It is worth noting that the surname JEFF has also been spelled in various ways throughout history, including Jeffery, Jeffries, and Jefferies. These variations reflect the evolution of the surname over time and across different regions of England.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jeff

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

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

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

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!