The English form of the Welsh personal name Griffith (Graffydd). Robertus Griffin held land in Newtyle before 1226 (LAC., 39), William Griffin was witness to a charter by Andrew, bishop of Moray, 1233 (Pluscardyn, p. 203). Griffinus, canon of Moray, witnessed excambion of the lands of Dolays Michel (Dallas), 1232 (REM., p. 88).

(Celtic-Latin) Of Ruddy Complexion [Welsh Griffin=French Ruf(f)in, Latin Rufin-us -ruf-us, red, ruddy] (Celtic) an Anglicized form of Griffith, q.v. (Anglo-French-Latin-Greek) a name derived from a local sign [Anglo-French griffon, from Latin gryphus, Greek γρύψ, a griffon] The crest of the Griffith family of Pen- rhyn is a griffin on a coronet.

Ó Gríobhtha Griffin has almost entirely superseded the earlier Griffey. The main sept is of Thomond. Another was located near Kenmare. Some Irish Griffins are of Welsh origin. IF 166 etc; Map Clare; Plate XIV

Ó Gríobhtha Griffin has almost entirely superseded the earlier Griffey. The main sept is of Thomond. Another was located near Kenmare. Some Irish Griffins are of Welsh origin. IF 166 etc; Map Clare; Plate XIV

(English) Dweller at the sign of the griffin, a fabulous monster, half lion and half eagle; one with a ruddy complexion; descendant of Griffin or Griffith (fierce lord).

A common baptismal name in Wales. Domesday shews us a Grifin in Cornwall, and in Cheshire a Grifin Rex, first a favourite of Edw. the Confessor, and afterwards a rebel against him. He was probably a Welsh border prince. The same old record presents us with a "Grifin puer" and a "Grifin filius Mariadoc," most likely identical, as a tenant in chief in co. Hereford.

AP GRIFFYN: (Welsh ) The son of Griffin or Griffith.

A name given to a noted man, whose qualities or disposition, in some respects, resembled this fabulous creature. Griffwn, in Welsh, is applied to a man having a crooked nose, like a hawk's bill. Gryffyn, in the Cornish British, signifies "to give." It may be the same as Griffith.

Said to have been early used to designate a Welshman.

Godefray of Garlekhithe, and Gryffyn the Walshe.

Piers Ploughman, ed. Wright, p. 96.

Another orthography of Griffith. Lower says it is a common baptismal name in Wales, and that Domesday shows a Grifin in Cornwall, and in Cheshire a Grifin Rex, first a favourite of Edward the Confessor, and afterwards a rebel against him. See also Notes and Queries, 3rd S. xi. 504.

Griffin. —Most numerous in the contiguous counties of Bucks and Warwick, and afterwards in the counties immediately around, also extending westward to Devon and Somerset. Not found in the northern half of England. In Domesday this name occurs in Cheshire, Hereford, and Cornwall. In the reign of Edward I. it. occurred in Shropshire, Oxfordshire, and Hunts, etc. (Hundred Rolls.).

The surname Griffith (whence Griffiths) derives from the Old Welsh Griphiud. The suffix ‘-iud’ means ‘lord’, though the meaning of the stem remains debatable. One plausible explanation is that it derives from the common Latin appellation Rufus, which means ‘red-haired’, though there is no proof as to this root. Griffin is a pet-name form of Griffith which is popular in Wales; this was the name given to many early Welsh princes. Griffin is also the name given to a Welsh heraldic dragon seen on the Welsh national flag, as well as on many Welsh pub signs. The pub-sign griffin is normally green, though on the flag it is red on a half-green, half-white horizontal background.

However, the name Griffin is not always Welsh (whereas the name Griffith is). It originates from two distinct areas-the Welsh border country and the eastern counties of England. The eastern Griffins are of Breton origin, coming to England after the Battle of Hastings.

The earliest reference to the name Griffin is in the Calendarium Genealogicum during the reign of Edward I, where one Tuder fil Griffini is mentioned. (The ‘fil’ is short for the Latin filius, meaning ‘son of’, the consequent name being Latinised from the doubtless spoken form of Griffin to Griffinus.) The earliest reference to the name Griffiths is found in the Wills at Chester for the year 1585. Here one John Ap-Griffith is recorded. (‘Ap’ or ‘ab’ is Welsh for ‘son of’-as in John ab Evan, which became corrupted to the name Bevan.) The root name Griffith gave rise to the variants Griffiths and Griffis. Both of these mean ‘dependant of Griffith’, the suffix ‘-s’ meaning ‘dependant of’ or ‘son of’ (compare the name Bennett, which gives Bennettson and Bennetts).

In Elizabethan times Sir Henry Griffith’s daughter, Ann, devoted all her love and energies to their Yorkshire mansion, Burton Agnes Hall. One evening, while returning from a visit, she was set upon by robbers and savagely beaten. Before she died she begged her family to let her head remain within the walls of her beloved house. She threatened to make the house unliveable if they failed to honour her wish, and promptly proceeded to do so when the family, believing her injuries had deranged her mind, buried her in the family vault. Moans, loud crashing noises and the sound of slammed doors filled the house and strange personal disasters befell the inhabitants until the skull was disinterred and brought inside. Today it is firmly ensconced behind a massive screen in the central hall.

In March 1925, one of America’s most violent tornados hit Griffin, Indiana. It destroyed 196 out of the 200 buildings in the town and left 50 dead in its wake.

The first of the great clipper ships such as the Cutty Sark was the Rainbow, designed by the American naval architect, John Willis Griffiths (1809—82).

D.W. Griffith (1874—1948) is regarded by many as the father of the film industry. In search of sun he moved his studio to a sleepy town called Hollywood.

Griffiths are champions. The American professional boxer Emile Griffiths (b.1938) has won five world titles, while Terry Griffiths (b.1947) won the world’s snooker champion­ship in 1979.

This name is relatively rarely incorporated in towns and geographic features. In the United Kingdom there are towns called Griff and Griffithstown, the United States has a Griffithville and a Griffin while Australia has a Griffith, which is also the name of a Canadian island.

With about 117,000 namesakes Griffiths is the 47th most popular surname in England and Wales. (The name is not common enough throughout Scotland to be counted separately.) Griffiths is notably popular in and around Cardiff where an estimated one in about 130 families bears the name. In descending numerical order Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol are other Griffiths strongholds. Around the world Griffiths’s are most common in Canberra (one in 767 families), Auckland (one in 869) and Sydney (one in 1,020). The United States has more Griffiths’s than the entire population of Doncaster-an estimated total of just over 309,000 makes this their 54th most popular surname.