Geoffrey (name)
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| Pronunciation | /ˈdʒɛfri/ JEF-ree |
|---|---|
| Gender | male |
| Origin | |
| Region of origin | Francia, medieval France, Norman England |
| Other names | |
| Derived | Godfried, Gottfried, Godfrey |
| Related names | Jeffrey, Geoff, Jeff |
Geoffrey is an English and French masculine given name. It is generally considered the Anglo-Norman form of the Germanic compound *gudą 'god' and *friþuz 'peace'.[1] It is a derivative of Dutch Godfried, German Gottfried and Old English Gotfrith and Godfrith.
Alexander MacBain considered it as being found in the Gaelic and Welsh forms; potentially before or contemporary to the Anglo-Saxon, with the examples of Goraidh, Middle Gaelic Gofraig (1467 MS.), Godfrey (do.), Irish Gofraidh (F.M.), Middle Irish Gothfrith, Gofraig (Tigernach, 989), Early Irish Gothfraid (Lib. Lein.), E. Welsh Gothrit (Ann. Camb.). Macbain suggested these Celtic forms of the name were closer related to the Anglo-Saxon Godefrid than the Norse Goðröðr, Gudrød or Góröðr; however he does not elaborate further on the origin or relation.
The form as 'Geoffrey' was probably introduced to Norman England[citation needed].
It was also Anglicised as Jeffrey later after the name became more popular after the likes of President Jefferson. Popularity of the name declined after the medieval period, but it was revived in modern England and the British Empire at large. Modern hypocorisms include Geoff or Jeff.
Jeffrey and its variants are found as surnames, usually 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.
Latinised forms include Jotfredus, Jozsfredus, Josfredus (10th century) and Jof[f]redus, Jofridus, Jaufredus, Geffredus (11th century).[2]
The original spelling with Jo- was modified in Geo-. The graphic e after G is used in French to avoid the pronunciation [go], but [ʒɔ] instead. The spelling Geo- is probably due to the influence of the first name Georges, derived from Old French Jorre, Joire.
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, ie got and possibly *gaut, in origin a tribal name (Geats, Goths) or a theonym (a byname of Wotan).[3]
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-.[4] If a strictly phonetic development is assumed, Geoffrey cannot be derived from Godfrid, as *go- would result in Old French go- ([gɔ]) and not geo- (jo-, [dʒɔ]), ie goda-fridu would yield Godefroy [godfrwa] but not Geoffroy. On the other hand, *gau- [gaw] would regularly result in jo- (geo- [dʒɔ]),[5] 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 (ie *Gisalfrid > *Giffrey), and *w(e)alh- would have resulted in *gaul- [gol] (ie *Wealhfrid > *Gaulfrey, *Gauffrey).
List of people called Geoffrey
In television and film
- Geoff Dolan, New Zealand actor, singer and corporate entertainer
- Geoff Edwards, American actor and game-show host
- Geoff Eigenmann, Filipino actor, host and model
- Geoff Harvey, Australian musician and television personality
- Geoffrey Hayes, English television presenter and actor
- Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian-American actor
- Geoffrey Lewis, American actor
- Geoff Morrell, Australian actor
- Geoff Murphy, New Zealand film director, writer and assistant director
- Geoffrey Palmer, English actor
- Geoffrey Perkins, British radio and television producer
- Geoff Peterson, robotic sidekick on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
- Geoffrey Rush, Australian actor
- Geoff Thompson, British writer, film director and self-defence expert
- Geoffrey Wright, Australian film director
In sports
- Geoff Abrams, American tennis player
- Geoffrey Edward Beck (1918–2019), English cricketer and minister
- 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
- Geoff Boss, ChampCar and IMSA driver
- Geoffrey Boycott, former England cricketer
- Geoff Capes, former British shot put champion and two-time World's Strongest Man winner
- Geoff Collins, Head Football (American) Coach at Georgia Tech
- Geoffrey Gray (born 1997), American-Israeli professional basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League
- Geoff Grover, Australian Rules Footballer with St Kilda and Port Melbourne
- Geoff Horsfield, English football player
- Geoff Howarth, New Zealand cricketer
- Geoff Hudson, English footballer
- Geoff Hunt, Australian squash player, ranked the World No.1 squash player from 1975 to 1980
- Geoff Hurst, the only footballer to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final
- Geoff Jenkins, outfielder in Major League Baseball
- Geoff Ogilvy, Australian golfer, winner of the 2006 US Open
- Geoff Roes, ultra-runner, Western States 100 Endurance Run record holder
- Geoff Rowley, professional skateboarder
- 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
In literature
- Geoffrey Chaucer, English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, and diplomat
- Geoffrey Household (1900–1988), British writer
- Geoff Johns, American writer of comic books
- Geoffrey Moorhouse (1931–2009), British writer
In music
- Geoff Barrow, producer/instrumentalist for the band, Portishead
- Geoffrey Arnold Beck, is an English rock guitarist who played with The Yardbirds
- Geoff Berner, Canadian singer-songwriter on the accordion
- Geoffrey Burgon, English composer
- Geoff Castellucci, bass vocalist for the Orlando, Florida-based a cappella group, VoicePlay
- 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
- Geoffrey Gordon, American composer
- 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, American rock singer, former member of the band Queensryche
- Geoff Wigington, guitarist for pop punk band Waterparks
In politics
- Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, British Conservative Party politician
- Geoffrey Cox, British Conservative politician
- Geoffrey Dickens, British Conservative politician
- Geoffrey Howe, British Conservative politician and former Deputy Prime Minister
In history
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In other fields
- Geoffrey Beene (1927–2004), American fashion designer, born Samuel Albert Bozeman, Jr
- Geoff Dixon, Australian corporate executive
- Geoffrey Evans (1940-2012) English-born Irish serial killer
- Geoffrey C. Hazard Jr., American law professor
- Geoffrey Hinton, British computer scientist
- Geoffrey Langlands (1917–2019), British Army officer and educator
- Geoffroy Lejeune (born 1988), French journalist
- Geoff Lloyd, British radio DJ
- Geoffrey Ma, Chief Justice of Hong Kong
- Geoffrey Massey (1924–2020), Canadian architect and urban planner
- Geoff Morrell, American journalist and public affairs official
- Geoffrey Pleyers, Belgian sociologist and researcher
- Geoff Ramsey, American voice actor and film producer
- Geoffrey Russom, American philologist
- Geoffrey See, entrepreneur and startup ecosystem builder in North Korea
See also
References
- ^ http://gtb.inl.nl/iWDB/search?actie=article&wdb=VMNW&id=ID91532&lemmodern=Godfried
- ^ Louis Guinet, Les emprunts gallo-romans au germanique (du Ier siècle à la fin du Ve siècle), Éditions Klincksieck, 1982.
- ^ Ernst Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856), 533.
- ^ Albert Dauzat, Noms et prénoms de France, édition revue et commentée par Marie-Thérèse Morlet, Librairie Larousse 1980, pp. 287b - 288a - 296ab.
- ^ 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 palatalisation of [g] > [dʒ] > [ʒ], before [a], [ɛ], [e], [i], but not before [o], [u], where [g] was maintained.
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