Meaning and Origin of Jeffrey

The name Jeffrey is a smorgasbord with many different origins. It comes from several variations of names ,such as Geoffrey, which comes from medieval English spelling of Geffrey, that is thought to be derived from a French name of Geoffroi, which in turn stemmed from several similar Germanic names. The meaning of Jeffrey is “God’s Peace”, which stems from the German name Gottfried.

With Jeffrey having a large number of spelling variations, it is a commonly misspelled name, and is most often is just shortened to Jeff.

Popularity of Jeffrey

In popularity lists, as of 2012, it ranked about 1,430th in the UK. Various spellings may rank higher.

Famous People Called Jeffrey

Famous people named Jeffrey are quite extensive, but the most infamous that comes to mind, is serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer. Jeffrey Archer, a famous novelist, and Jeffrey Earnhardt, U.S.A NASCAR driver.
Pop Culture references to the name Jeffrey can be found in the 1995 movie “12 Monkeys” starring Brad Pitt as Jeffrey Goines. “The Big Lebowski”, 1998, is a mistaken identity movie about a millionaire and a poor man with the same name, Jeffrey Lebowski.

Useful Resources

• Checkout the comprehensive list of English boy’s names.