Geoffrey (given name)

Geoffrey
Pronunciation	ge-off
Gender	masculine
Origin
Region of origin	Francia, medieval France, Norman England
Other names
Derived	Gottfried, Godfrey
Related names	Jeffrey, Geoff, Jeff, Jeffory

Geoffrey is a French and English masculine given name. It is the Anglo-Norman form of the German name Gottfried.

It was introduced to Norman England alongside the form Godfrey. It was also anglicized as Jeffrey from an early time. Popularity of the name declined after the medieval period, but it was revived in the 20th century. Modern hypocorisms include Geoff, Jeff or Geof.

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.

Etymology

The Old French form of the name was Geoffrei ([dʒɔfreʲ]), which developed into West Middle French Geoffrey and East Middle French Geoffroy.

Latinized forms include Jotfredus, Jozsfredus, Josfredus (10th century) and Jof[f]redus, Jofridus, Jaufredus, Geffredus (11th century).^[1]

The original spelling with Jo- was modified in Geo-. The graphic e after G is used in French to avoid the pronunciation [go], but [dʒɔ] instead. The spelling Geo- is probably due to the influence of the first name Georges, scholar version for Old French Jorre, Joire, which are original popular forms.

The Old Frankish name Godefrid itself is from the Germanic elements god- and frid-. The Middle Latin form is Godefridus (whence also Godfrey). The second element is widely used in Germanic names, and has a meaning of "peace, protection". The first element god- is conflated from two, or possibly three, distinct roots, i.e. got and possibly *gaut, in origin a tribal name (Geats, Goths) or a theonym (a byname of Wotan).^[2]

Albert Dauzat (1951, rev. ed. 1980) followed by others, argued that the Middle French name Geoffrey in fact retains a distinction between two Germanic names which became conflated in the Middle Ages. According to this argument, Godfrey continues *goda-friþu-, while Geoffroy continues *gaut-friþu-.^[3] If a strictly phonetical development is assumed, Geoffrey cannot be derived from Godfrid, as *go- would result in Old French go- ([gɔ]) and not geo- (jo-, [dʒɔ]), i.e. goda-fridu would yield Godefroy [godfrwa] but not Geoffroy. On the other hand, *gau- [gaʷ] would regularly result in jo- (geo- [dʒɔ]),^[4]i.e *gaut-fridu- would regularly result in Geoffroy [dʒɔf:rwa].

Alternative suggestions which would derive the first element from Germanic gisal- "hostage", or w(e)alah "Gallo-Roman; stranger" are also rejected by Dauzat as phonetically impossible: gi would have resulted in Old French [dʒi] (Modern French [ʒi]), as in Gisalbert > Gilbert (i.e. *Gisalfrid>*Giffrey), and *w(e)alh- would have resulted in *gaul- [gol] (i.e. *Wealhfrid > *Gaulfrey, *Gauffrey).

Variants

Variants and hypocorisms of the name include:

Gefrey Geoff Geoffaree Geoffery Geoffree Geoffri Geofflesso

Geofree Geophrey Gioffre Goeffry Geoffryn Jaffray Jaufray Jauffray

Jauffret Jef Jeff Jefferson Jeffery Jeffree

Jeffreigh Jeffrey Jeffri Jeffrion Jeffry Jefrey Jofré

Jefry Jeffy Jeffory Joffrey

List of people called Geoffrey

In television and film

Geoffrey Ian Bara, American actor, standup comedian, and radio personality Geoffrey Phillips, British actor who has appeared in many different television roles as a great man Geoffrey Palmer (actor), English television and movie actor appearing in many British television sitcoms and movies Geoff Dolan, New Zealand actor, singer and corporate entertainer Geoffrey Hayes, English television presenter and actor Geoffrey Holder, actor Geoffrey Lewis, American character actor who has been popular since the early 1970s Geoffrey Perkins, British radio and television producer Geoffrey Thomas Ingold (born in 1982), English sales Leader and accomplished Athlete (ran marathon des sables) Geoff Edwards, American actor/game-show host Geoff Morrell (actor), Australian film and theatre actor Geoff Morrell (Pentagon), former reporter, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Murphy, New Zealand film director, writer and assistant director Geoff Oldham, British TV, stage and film actor Geoff Peterson, robotic sidekick on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson Geoffrey Rush, Australian Academy Award and Emmy Award winning actor Geoff Thompson, writer, film director and self-defence expert Geoffrey Wright, Australian film director born in Melbourne in 1959 Jeffrey Combs, American character actor best known for his horror film roles Jeffrey Hunter, film and television actor Jeffrey Nordling, American actor Jeffrey Tambor, American actor Jeff Albertson, character from The Simpsons, more commonly known as Comic Book Guy Jeff Anderson, American actor who appeared as Randal Graves in Kevin Smith's Clerks series

Jeff Bridges, American actor Jeff Chandler (actor), 1950s American film actor Jeff Cohen, child actor who appeared as Chunk in the 1985 movie The Goonies Jeff Conaway, American actor Jeff Daniels, American actor Jeff Dunham, American ventriloquist Jeff East, American actor, appeared in Superman as the young Clark Kent Jeff Fatt, Australian musician and child entertainer. Jeff Foxworthy, American comedian and actor Jeff Garlin, American comedic actor Jeff Goldblum, American film actor Jeff Hyslop, Canadian television and theatre actor Jeff Maxwell, American actor (Igor from M.A.S.H.) Jeff McCarthy, American character actor who has appeared in television, theatre and films Jeff Murdoch, character in the first three seasons of the sitcom Coupling Jeff Probst, American television personality Jeff Reinhart, character in the Saw movie series Jeff Thisted, American game-show host Jeff Yagher, American actor Joffrey Baratheon, character on television show Game of Thrones Jeff Winger, one of the main characters of Community

In sports

Geoff Abrams, American tennis player Geoff Bent, one of the eight Manchester United players that lost their lives in the Munich air disaster Geoff Blum, infielder in Major League Baseball Geoff Bodine, NASCAR driver Geoffrey Boycott, former England cricketer Geoff Capes, former British shot put champion and two-time World's Strongest Man winner Geoff Grover, Australian Rules Footballer with St Kilda and Port Melbourne Geoff Horsfield, English football player Geoff Howarth, New Zealand cricketer Geoff Hurst, the only footballer who ever scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final Geoff Jenkins, outfielder in Major League Baseball Geoff Rowley, professional skateboarder Geoff Ogilvy, Australian golfer, winner of the 2006 US Open. Geoff Roes, ultra-runner, Western States 100 Endurance Run record holder Geoff Sanderson, forward in the National Hockey League Geoff Schwartz, American NFL football player (Carolina Panthers) Geoff Toovey, Rugby League Coach for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Jeff Agoos, American soccer player Jeff Bagwell, baseball player Jeff Bes, Canadian ice hockey player Jeff Burton, NASCAR racer Jeff Chandler (boxer), boxing champion

Jeff Conine, pro baseball player Jeff Elliott, British decathlete and pole vaulter Jeff Fenech, boxer Jeff Francis, baseball player Jeff Francoeur, American baseball player Jeff Garcia, football player Jeff Gordon, NASCAR racer Jeff Guiel, Canadian baseball player Jeff Halpern, American hockey player (Montreal Canadians) Jeff Hardy, American professional wrestler Jeff Jarrett, American professional wrestler Jeff Kent, American MVP major league baseball player Jeff Newman (baseball), American major league baseball All Star catcher & first baseman and manager Jeff Otis, American football player Jeff Schiebler, Canadian long-distance runner Jeff Speakman, American actor and accomplished martial artist in the art of kempo Jeff Stork, American volleyball player Jeff Thomson, Australian cricketer Jeff Van Gundy, US NBA coach Jeff Williams, Australian-born, left-handed pitcher for the Hanshin Tigers baseball team

Geoffrey Garner Consummate Equal Employment Opportunity Officer, United States Army Military Police Retired

In literature

Geoffrey Chaucer, English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, and diplomat Geoffrey Moorhouse (1931–2009), British writer Geoff Johns, American writer of comic books Jeffrey Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare, English author and former politician Jeffrey Carver, American science fiction author Jeffrey Daniels (author), Chicago-raised African American poet, artist, and professor Jeffrey Eugenides, American novelist and short story writer of Greek and Irish origins Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Sanskrit specialist and author who trained as a psychoanalyst in Toronto

Jeffrey Rowland, webcomic artist Jeffrey Shaara, American novelist Jeffrey Simpson, The Globe and Mail's national affairs columnist Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com Jeff Noon, novelist, short story writer and playwright Jeff VanderMeer, American writer

In music

Geoff Barrow, producer/instrumentalist for the band, Portishead Geoff Berner, Canadian singer-songwriter on the accordion Geoff Downes, Keyboard player known for his work with The Buggles, Yes and Asia Geoff Emerick, recording studio audio engineer, who is best known for his work with the Beatles Geoff Nicholls, former keyboard player for Black Sabbath Geoff Richardson, multi-instrumentalist for Caravan Geoff Rickly, lead singer and lyricist of the Post-Hardcore band Thursday Geoff Stone, percussionist for Drastic Fall Geoff Tate, lead singer for hard rock band Queensryche Jeffrey Ching, British contemporary classical composer Jeffrey Hammond, bass guitarist for British progressive rock band Jethro Tull DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeff Beck, electric guitarist

Jeff Buckley American singer-songwriter Jeff Graham, Canadian radio DJ Jeff Hanneman, guitarist for U.S. thrash metal band Slayer Jeff Healey, Canadian blues-rock guitarist Jeff Loomis, lead guitarist for heavy metal band Nevermore Jeff Lynne, British singer-songwriter and record producer Jeff Mangum, American singer-songwriter and founder of Neutral Milk Hotel Jeff Porcaro, highly regarded session drummer and founding member of Toto Jeff Tweedy, American singer-songwriter and founding member of Wilco

In politics

Geoffrey Howe, British Conservative politician and former Deputy Prime Minister Jeff Bingaman, senior U.S. Senator from New Mexico Jeff Flake, U.S. Representative from Arizona Jeff Kennett, former Premier of Victoria, Australia

Jeff Seemann, United States Democratic candidate in Ohio for Congress Jeff Sessions, junior U.S. Senator from Alabama

In history

Geoffrey Rudolph Elton, British historian of the Tudor period Geoffrey Norman Blainey, Australian historian and political commentator Geoffrey of Monmouth, Welsh cleric and chronicler Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, founder of the House of Plantagenet Geoffrey (Archbishop of York), illegitimate son of King Henry II of England, Bishop of Lincoln and Archbishop of York Geoffrey, Duke of Brittany, son of King Henry II of England and brother of King Richard and King John. Gioffre Borgia, Prince of Squillace, illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI and brother of Lucrezia Borgia, Cesare Borgia and Giovanni Borgia

In military

Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, officer in the British Army

Jeffrey R. MacDonald, former member of the elite military unit

In other fields

Geoffrey Beene (1927–2004), American fashion designer Geoff Dixon, Australian corporate executive and former CEO and Managing Director of Qantas Geoff Lloyd, British radio DJ Geoff Ramsey, member of Rooster Teeth Productions Jeffree Star, American androgynous model, fashion designer, makeup artist, DJ, and singer-songwriter. Geoffrey_K._Pullum, British-American linguist and professor at the University of Edinburgh. Jeffrey Buttle, Canadian figure skater Jeffrey Cheah, Founder of Malaysian conglomerate Sunway Group Jeffrey Daniel, singer and dancer with the soul group Shalamar Jeffrey Dahmer, notorious American serial killer, necrophile and cannibal

Jeff Cooper (colonel), former United States Marine and firearms expert Jeff Luers, American anarchist, environmental activist, and arsonist Jeff Nuttall, British 1960s counter-culture figure Jeff Hawkins, Founder of Palm Computing and Handspring Jeff Minter, British computer and video game designer and programmer Jeff K., fictional character created by Richard Kyanka

See also

• Gottfried
• Godfrey (disambiguation)

References

1. Louis Guinet, Les emprunts gallo-romans au germanique (du Ier siècle à la fin du Ve siècle), éditions Klincksieck, 1982.
2. Ernst Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856), 533.
3. Albert Dauzat, Noms et prénoms de France, édition revue et commentée par Marie-Thérèse Morlet, Librairie Larousse 1980, pp. 287b - 288a - 296ab.
4. for example, Late Latin *gauta gave Old French jöe and Modern French joue "cheek", and Latin gaudia gave French joie "joy". . In the history of the French language, there is a regular palatalization (sound change) of [g] > [dʒ] > [ʒ], before [a], [ɛ], [e], [i], but not before [o], [u], where [g] was maintained.