Jefferay Surname

3,882,373rd
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 26 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Australia
Highest density in:
Australia

Jefferay Surname Definition:

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Geoffrey,' which see. The various forms cited and the numbers of their representatives furnish some sort of idea of the enormous popularity of this now old-fashioned font-name in the 13th and 14th centuries.

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Jefferay Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Australia81:3,374,463124,818
England81:6,964,757184,742
United States51:72,491,7871,102,614
South Africa41:13,544,426222,367
China11:1,367,321,56651,149
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
England111:2,215,94364,354
PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
United States41:12,554,671503,821

Jefferay (14) may also be a first name.

Jefferay Surname Meaning

From Where Does The Surname Originate? meaning and history

This surname is derived from the name of an ancestor. 'the son of Geoffrey,' which see. The various forms cited and the numbers of their representatives furnish some sort of idea of the enormous popularity of this now old-fashioned font-name in the 13th and 14th centuries. To give more than one or two modern references would be superfluous.

Rogerus Jeffray, 1379: Poll Tax of Yorkshire.

1613-4. Married — Thomas Cook and Alice Gowen, alias Jefferey: St. Dionis Backchurch (London).

1635. Buried — Captayne William Jefferyes: St. James, Clerkenwell.

1636. — John, s. William Jefferie: ibid.

— — Roberte Jefferies: ibid.

1664. — Richard Jeoffries: ibid.

A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames (1896) by Charles Wareing Endell Bardsley

The French Geoffray, Geoffroy (O.French Geoffroi), Gefrei, &c. (Anglo-French Geoffrey), palatalized as­similated forms of Godefroy, Godafrey, &c.: v. Godfrey.

In the ‘Chanson de Roland’ we find the variant forms Gefrei, Gefreid, Geifreit, e.g.— Gefrei d’Anjou et Jozeran le conte. (l.3535).

Surnames of the United Kingdom (1912) by Henry Harrison

The Teutonic personal name Godfridus, whence also Godfrey. In Domesday the ordinary form is Goisfridus. From it we get the modifications and derivatives, Jefferson, Jeaffreson, Jeffries, Jefferies, Jefferiss, Jeff, Jeffs, Jephson, Jepson, Jeffeock, Jefkins, with minor variations of spelling too numerous for insertion.

Patronymica Britannica (1860) by Mark Antony Lower

Jeffery,Jefferies,Jeffreys. —These are essentially south of England names, Wilts being their principal home. It is remarkable that Jeffery is most numerous in the four south - west counties; whilst Jefferies and Jeffreys are most prevalent in the other parts of the area of distribution. The place of these names in the north of England is taken by Jefferson. Jeffs is a Cheshire variety.

Homes of Family Names in Great Britain (1890) by Henry Brougham Guppy

Jefferay Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Jefferay Come From? nationality or country of origin

Jefferay has its highest incidence in Australia. It may also occur as a variant:. Click here for other possible spellings of this surname.

How Common Is The Last Name Jefferay? popularity and diffusion

Jefferay is the 3,882,373rd most commonly occurring surname throughout the world, borne by approximately 1 in 280,290,228 people. The surname is predominantly found in Europe, where 31 percent of Jefferay are found; 31 percent are found in Northern Europe and 31 percent are found in British Isles. It is also the 3,024,661st most widely held first name world-wide. It is borne by 14 people.

This last name is most widely held in Australia, where it is borne by 8 people, or 1 in 3,374,463. In Australia it is mostly found in: Queensland, where 75 percent live and New South Wales, where 25 percent live. Other than Australia this surname is found in 4 countries. It is also found in England, where 31 percent live and The United States, where 19 percent live.

Jefferay Family Population Trend historical fluctuation

The frequency of Jefferay has changed over time. In England the number of people carrying the Jefferay last name declined 27 percent between 1881 and 2014 and in The United States it increased 125 percent between 1880 and 2014.

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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 Jefferay
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis