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

Jeffries, 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 Jeffries surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Jeffries in America

Jeffries is the 1526th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Jeffries surname appeared 23,510 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 8 people would have the surname Jeffries.

We can also compare 2010 data for Jeffries 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 Jeffries

The surname Jeffries is of English origin, derived from the given name Jeffrey, which is an Old French version of the Germanic name Godefrid, meaning "peace" and "ruler." The name first appeared in the late 11th century after the Norman Conquest of England.

The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Geffrei" and "Geffrey." During the Middle Ages, the name was also spelled as "Jeffray," "Jefferay," and "Jeffreys."

One notable bearer of the name was Sir John Jeffries (c. 1305-1376), a Member of Parliament for Derbyshire and Chief Forester of the Peak District in the 14th century. Another was George Jeffreys (1645-1689), an English judge who became notorious as the "Hanging Judge" for his brutal treatment of participants in the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685.

In the 18th century, Benjamin Jeffries (1704-1775) was a prominent English clockmaker and inventor, known for his pioneering work in developing the cylinder escapement for clocks. Meanwhile, John Jeffries (1744-1819) was an American physician and scientist, best known for accompanying Jean-Pierre Blanchard on the first successful balloon flight across the English Channel in 1785.

The name Jeffries is also associated with several place names, such as Jeffries Bank in Warwickshire, which dates back to the 13th century, and Jeffries Green in Buckinghamshire, mentioned in records from the 16th century.

Other notable individuals with the surname Jeffries include the American actress Zelda Jeffries (1914-2001), known for her roles in films like "Mildred Pierce" and "The Killers," and the British artist Denzil Jeffries (1924-2010), who was renowned for his landscape paintings.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Jeffries

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

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

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

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