Fife Surname
Approximately 12,094 people bear this surname
Fife Surname Definition:
From the name of the shire. "The surname of Fife (but a small name now), pretends to be descended of a younger son of Macduff, earl of Fife" (Nisbet, I, p. 277). There is no proof of such descent. Ele de Fyfe of the county of Fyfe rendered homage in 1296 (Bain, II, p.
Read More About This SurnameFife Surname Distribution Map
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 9,316 | 1:38,907 | 4,798 |
| Canada | 767 | 1:48,039 | 5,831 |
| England | 587 | 1:94,920 | 10,135 |
| Australia | 577 | 1:46,786 | 5,853 |
| New Zealand | 259 | 1:17,484 | 3,070 |
| South Africa | 116 | 1:467,049 | 38,892 |
| Scotland | 104 | 1:51,479 | 4,410 |
| Portugal | 57 | 1:182,776 | 7,697 |
| Bahamas | 49 | 1:7,995 | 667 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 35 | 1:38,971 | 3,714 |
| Zimbabwe | 35 | 1:441,093 | 38,294 |
| Wales | 23 | 1:134,545 | 9,804 |
| France | 21 | 1:3,162,987 | 209,042 |
| Germany | 14 | 1:5,750,390 | 205,224 |
| Brazil | 11 | 1:19,461,303 | 329,560 |
| Nicaragua | 10 | 1:602,109 | 3,988 |
| Angola | 9 | 1:2,998,802 | 4,903 |
| Belgium | 8 | 1:1,437,080 | 92,692 |
| Indonesia | 8 | 1:16,531,149 | 488,268 |
| Northern Ireland | 8 | 1:230,630 | 10,839 |
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 7 | 1:16,094 | 893 |
| Denmark | 7 | 1:806,388 | 43,211 |
| Isle of Man | 6 | 1:14,304 | 3,169 |
| Mexico | 5 | 1:24,825,241 | 58,251 |
| Norway | 5 | 1:1,028,457 | 61,363 |
| Greece | 4 | 1:2,769,948 | 101,568 |
| Jersey | 3 | 1:33,067 | 4,675 |
| Spain | 3 | 1:15,584,012 | 120,866 |
| Russia | 3 | 1:48,041,019 | 639,186 |
| Philippines | 3 | 1:33,746,074 | 302,898 |
| China | 2 | 1:683,660,783 | 30,601 |
| South Korea | 2 | 1:25,620,128 | 4,175 |
| Cuba | 2 | 1:5,761,358 | 13,825 |
| Cyprus | 2 | 1:442,438 | 9,493 |
| Yemen | 2 | 1:13,212,647 | 40,633 |
| Italy | 2 | 1:30,578,344 | 160,757 |
| Bermuda | 1 | 1:65,279 | 3,010 |
| Barbados | 1 | 1:287,448 | 2,772 |
| Bangladesh | 1 | 1:159,356,773 | 26,077 |
| Cameroon | 1 | 1:20,769,068 | 227,406 |
| Azerbaijan | 1 | 1:9,649,122 | 47,873 |
| Argentina | 1 | 1:42,743,414 | 282,706 |
| Cayman Islands | 1 | 1:63,893 | 2,384 |
| Turkey | 1 | 1:77,821,422 | 191,047 |
| Afghanistan | 1 | 1:32,153,183 | 60,828 |
| Thailand | 1 | 1:70,638,345 | 1,175,915 |
| Tanzania | 1 | 1:52,941,613 | 123,716 |
| Switzerland | 1 | 1:8,212,915 | 156,297 |
| Sweden | 1 | 1:9,846,757 | 347,448 |
| DR Congo | 1 | 1:73,879,570 | 260,543 |
| Ecuador | 1 | 1:15,905,846 | 50,210 |
| Poland | 1 | 1:38,008,749 | 231,653 |
| Panama | 1 | 1:3,912,258 | 17,195 |
| Nigeria | 1 | 1:177,142,758 | 748,972 |
| Israel | 1 | 1:8,557,634 | 182,558 |
| Mozambique | 1 | 1:27,261,569 | 7,432 |
| Japan | 1 | 1:127,844,293 | 73,547 |
| Lebanon | 1 | 1:5,637,083 | 32,436 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland | 34 | 1:130,290 | 7,484 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 437 | 1:55,779 | 6,624 |
| Scotland | 366 | 1:10,227 | 1,300 |
| Wales | 5 | 1:313,683 | 10,604 |
| Isle of Man | 1 | 1:54,269 | 2,077 |
| Place | Incidence | Frequency | Rank in Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 1,844 | 1:27,234 | 3,339 |
Fife (672) may also be a first name.
Fife Surname Meaning
From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history
From the name of the shire. "The surname of Fife (but a small name now), pretends to be descended of a younger son of Macduff, earl of Fife" (Nisbet, I, p. 277). There is no proof of such descent. Ele de Fyfe of the county of Fyfe rendered homage in 1296 (Bain, II, p. 204). John de Fyff, charter witness in Aberdeen in 1436, may be the John de Fyff prepositus of Aberdeen in 1451, who appears again as bergess there in 1464 (REA., I, p. 234; II, p. 297; RAA., II, 154). Andrew de Fiffe was perpetual vicar of the perish church of Maryton in 1447 (REB., II, 397). John Fieff, Scottish merchant of Aberdeen, had a safe conduct to trade between Scodand and England in 1453, and Patrick of Fyffe, another Aberdeen merchant, had a similar permit in the following year (Bain, IV, 1253, 1265). Sir Patrick of Fyfe was vicer of Aberkerdor in 1462 (SCM., V, p. 286). The surname became Feif and Pfeiff in Sweden where several of the name became prominent. Duncan Phyfe, a Scot, came to the United States about 1784, was a maker of fine furniture equal to that produced by Sheraton, Hipplewhite, and Adams. Fif 1513, Fyif 1608, Fyiff 1647.
Ictish) belonging to the Pictish province Fife, anciently Fibh, supposed to be named after Fibh, a son of Cruithne, the eponymus of the Cruithni or Piets.
(Scottish) One who came from Fife.
The Scottish county.
"The surname Fife (but a small name now) pretends to be descended of a younger son of M'Duff, Earl of Fife. From which title they have the name, and carry the arms." Nisbet.
Local: from the district of Fife.
Local. A shire or county of Scotland; lands held in fief.
From co. Fife, Scotland.
Fife Demographics
Fife Religious Adherence
in Ireland
Religious Adherence
in Ireland
Fife Last Name Facts
Where Does The Last Name Fife Come From? nationality or country of origin
Fife (Russian: Фифе) occurs most in The United States. It can also be found in the variant forms:. For other potential spellings of this name click here.
How Common Is The Last Name Fife? popularity and diffusion
Fife is the 43,040th most frequent family name on earth. It is borne by approximately 1 in 602,575 people. The surname occurs mostly in The Americas, where 84 percent of Fife live; 83 percent live in North America and 83 percent live in Anglo-North America. It is also the 320,017th most commonly used first name world-wide, held by 672 people.
The last name Fife is most commonly held in The United States, where it is carried by 9,316 people, or 1 in 38,907. In The United States it is most frequent in: California, where 10 percent live, Texas, where 8 percent live and Ohio, where 7 percent live. Barring The United States Fife exists in 57 countries. It is also common in Canada, where 6 percent live and England, where 5 percent live.
Fife Family Population Trend historical fluctuation
The prevalency of Fife has changed through the years. In The United States the number of people bearing the Fife surname grew 505 percent between 1880 and 2014; in England it grew 134 percent between 1881 and 2014; in Scotland it contracted 72 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in Wales it grew 460 percent between 1881 and 2014.
Fife Last Name Statistics demography
The religious devotion of those carrying the Fife surname is chiefly Catholic (39%) in Ireland.
In The United States Fife are 18.66% more likely to be registered with the Republican Party than the national average, with 65.43% being registered with the party.
The amount Fife earn in different countries varies greatly. In Norway they earn 86.82% more than the national average, earning 646,557 kr per year; in South Africa they earn 67.54% more than the national average, earning R 398,148 per year; in United States they earn 0.3% more than the national average, earning $43,279 USD per year and in Canada they earn 5.56% more than the national average, earning $52,445 CAD per year.
Phonetically Similar Names
Fife Name Transliterations
| Transliteration | ICU Latin | Percentage of Incidence |
|---|---|---|
| Fife in the Russian language | ||
| Фифе | fife | - |
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Footnotes
- Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
- Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
- Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
- Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
- Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
- Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
- Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Fife
- To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on FamilySearch, MyHeritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis