GIFFORD
Gifford is a surname of English provenance that originates within the British Isles, specifically England, where it has been recorded since at least the eleventh century.
The name is derived from the Old English personal name Gyffard or Giffard, itself built from the Germanic elements gifu, meaning “gift”, and hard, meaning “brave”, “hardy” or “strong”. Hence the surname can be understood as “brave gift” or “strong gift”. It was likely bestowed upon an individual who was considered generous or who bestowed gifts upon others, serving as a nickname that subsequently became hereditary.
Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, the surname entered England and appears in a number of forms such as Giffard, Gifford, Gyford, Gyfford, Jefferd and Jefford. The earliest recorded spelling is Walter Gifard, noted in the Domesday Book of 1086 for Cambridgeshire during the reign of King William I.
There are two parallel traditions for the name’s origin. One traces it to the early Germanic personal name Gebhardt, composed of geb (gift) and hard (brave, hardy or strong). The popularity of St. Gebhardt, the bishop of Constance in the late tenth century, may have sustained the use of this given name into the Middle Ages. The other tradition links the surname to the Old French noun Giffard, used as a nickname for a person regarded as chubby‑cheeked; this in turn derives from the German giffel meaning cheek.
A heraldic achievement associated with the Gifford family is blazoned on a red field, three lions passant argent in pale, with a crest depicting a leopard’s face breathing fire gules.
In the early seventeenth century, an individual bearing the surname, Edward Gifford, emigrated from London aboard the ship Safety in August 1635, bound for Virginia in the New World.
Thus, the Gifford surname encapsulates a blend of Germanic linguistic heritage, Norman influence, and a documented presence within the English land record, exemplifying the complex pathways by which personal names evolved into hereditary family signs in Britain.
Typical given names associated with the Gifford surname
Male
- Alan
- Andrew
- David
- James
- John
- Mark
- Michael
- Paul
- Robert
- Thomas
Female
- Amanda
- Anne
- Christine
- Elizabeth
- Julie
- Karen
- Linda
- Margaret
- Mary
- Nicola
- Sarah
- Susan
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Gifford in...
Braille
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Morse
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There are approximately 4,235 people named Gifford in the UK. That makes it roughly the 2,207th most common surname in Britain. Around 65 in a million people in Britain are named Gifford.
Surname type: Location or geographical feature
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Gifford
- Kathie Lee Gifford - American actress and talk show host
- Roger Gifford - London banker and the 685th Lord Mayor of London
- Emma Gifford - First wife of Thomas Hardy (1840 to 1912)
- Denis Gifford - Comic historian (1927 to 2000)
- Norman Gifford - Test and County cricketer
- Michael Gifford - Diplomat
- Carlyle Gifford - Businessman (1881 to 1975)
- George Gifford - Cricketer for Northamptonshire (1891 to 1972)
- Will Gifford - Cricketer
- Robert Gifford, 1st Baron Gifford - Politician (1779 to 1826)
- Rodger Gifford - Welsh football referee
- Thomas Gifford - Canadian politician (1854 to 1935)
- Charles Gifford - Canadian politician (1821 to 1896)
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.