Jeffrey
Pronunciation/ˈɛfri/ JEF-ree
GenderMale
Origin
Word/nameFrancia, medieval France, Norman England
Other names
Nickname(s)Jeff
DerivedGodfrey, Gottfried
Related namesGeoffrey, Jeff, Jeffry, Jeffy, Jefrey, Jeffery, Jofre, Jeffeory Jefferson

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, Geoff, Geoffrey, Jeffeory, Geffrey, Jefferson, and Jeffro.

People with the name Jeffrey

Academia

  • Jeffrey Cole, American anthropologist
  • Jeffrey Garten (born 1946), American businessman and writer, professor and dean of Yale School of Management
  • Jeffrey Hackney (born 1941), British legal academic at Wadham College, Oxford
  • Jeffrey A. Hoffman (born 1944), American astronaut, professor of aeronautics and astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Jeffrey Kaplan (academic) (born 1954), American academic, author and book editor
  • Jeffrey Lagarias (born 1949), American professor of mathematics at the University of Michigan
  • Jeffrey B. Remmel (1948–2017), American mathematics professor of UC San Diego
  • Jeffrey Rosen (born 1964), American legal academic and commentator, professor of law at George Washington University Law School
  • Jeffrey Sachs (born 1954), American professor of economics and director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, New York

Art

Business

  • Jeffrey Cheah (born 1945/1946), founder of Malaysian conglomerate Sunway Group
  • Jeffrey Hollender (born 1954), American entrepreneur, author and activist, co-founder and former CEO of Seventh Generation Inc.
  • Jeffrey Katzenberg (born 1950), American co-founder of DreamWorks SKG, CEO of DreamWorks Animation SKG, and film producer
  • Jeffrey Rosen, American billionaire businessman
  • Jeffrey Steinberger, American trial lawyer and founder of law firm, judge pro tem, adjunct law professor, TV legal analyst

Crime

Entertainment

Literature

Military

Sport

Other

Fictional characters

See also

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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