Jeffrey (given name)

Jeffrey
Pronunciation/ˈdʒɛfri/ JEF-ree
GenderMale
Origin
Word/nameFrancia, medieval France, Norman England
Other names
NicknameJeff
DerivedGodfrey, Gottfried
Related namesGeoffrey, Jeff, Jeffry, Jeffy, Jefrey, Jeffery, Jofre, Jeffeory, Joffrey, Jefferson, Jeoffry

Jeffrey is a common English given name, and a variant form of the name Geoffrey (itself from a Middle French variant of Godfrey, Gottfried).[1]

It has been argued that the common derivation of Middle French Geoffrey (or Geoffroy), Jeffery from Godfrey is mistaken, and that the names reflect two separate first Germanic elements god vs. gaut, which became conflated in Old High German by the end of the early medieval period.[2]

Outside of North America, Geoffrey is more common than Jeffrey. Jeffrey and its variants are found as surnames, usually as a patronymic ending in -s (e.g., Jefferies, Jaffrays); The surname Jefferson is also a patronymic version of the given name. In Scotland, Jeffrey is most frequently found to be a surname.

Variations include Jeff, Jeffry, Jeffy, Jeffery, Jefferey, Jeffory, Jefrie, Geoff, Geoffrey, Jeffeory, Geffrey, Jefferson, and Jeffro.

People with the given name Jeffrey

Academia

Art

Business

Crime

  • Jeffrey Dahmer (1960–1994), American cannibalistic serial killer and sex offender
  • Jeffrey Dampier (1966–2005), American lottery winner who was murdered
  • Sir Jeffrey Donaldson (born 1962), Northern Irish sex offender and former politician
  • Jeffrey "Jeff" Doucet (1959–1984), American pedophile murdered by Gary Plauché
  • Jeffrey Epstein (1953–2019), American financier and convicted child sex offender
  • Jeffrey Russell Hall (1978–2011), American political extremist killed by his son
  • Jeffrey Lundgren (1950–2006), American cult leader and mass murderer
  • Jeffrey R. MacDonald (born 1943), American former physician convicted of killing his family

Entertainment

Literature

Military

Sport

Other

Fictional characters

  • Jeffrey P. Brookes III, in the TV series The Ropers
  • Jeffrey Cross, a.k.a. OG Loc, in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
  • Jeffrey Dexter "Jeff" Boomhauer III, introduced in 1997 as a main character in the TV series King of the Hill
  • Jeffrey Goines, a main character in the film 12 Monkeys (1995)
  • Jeffrey Hoytsman, introduced in 2015 as a defense attorney in the TV series Brooklyn Nine-Nine
  • Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, the title character in the film The Big Lebowski (1998)
  • Jeffrey Matthews a.k.a. Moondoggie, introduced in 1957 as a main character in the Gidget media franchise
  • Jeffrey Michener, introduced in 2015 as President of the United States in the TV series The Last Ship; see List of The Last Ship episodes
  • Jeffrey Sinclair, introduced in 1988 as the commander of the eponymous space station in the TV series Babylon 5
  • Jeffrey Sparkman, the titular character from the 2010 U.S. TV show Nurse Jeffrey, a spin-off of House, M.D.

See also

Search for "Jeffrey" on Wikipedia.

References

  1. ↑ Behind the Name: Meaning, Origin and History of the Name Geoffrey
  2. ↑ Albert Dauzat, Noms et prénoms de France, Librairie Larousse 1980, édition revue et commentée par Marie-Thérèse Morlet. p. 287b – 288a – 296ab.
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